Wednesday, December 23, 2015

THE JAPANESE LOVER






The Japanese Lover, Isabel Allende, Atria Books, 2015, 322 pp
 
 
Summary from Goodreads:
In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of the Nazis, young Alma Belasco's parents send her away to live in safety with an aunt and uncle in their opulent mansion in San Francisco. There, as the rest of the world goes to war, she encounters Ichimei Fukuda, the quiet and gentle son of the family's Japanese gardener. Unnoticed by those around them, a tender love affair begins to blossom. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two are cruelly pulled apart as Ichimei and his family, like thousands of other Japanese Americans are declared enemies and forcibly relocated to internment camps run by the United States government. Throughout their lifetimes, Alma and Ichimei reunite again and again, but theirs is a love that they are forever forced to hide from the world.

Decades later, Alma is nearing the end of her long and eventful life. Irina Bazili, a care worker struggling to come to terms with her own troubled past, meets the elderly woman and her grandson, Seth, at San Francisco's charmingly eccentric Lark House nursing home. As Irina and Seth forge a friendship, they become intrigued by a series of mysterious gifts and letters sent to Alma, eventually learning about Ichimei and this extraordinary secret passion that has endured for nearly seventy years.
 
My Review:
I have loved Isabel Allende ever since I read The House of the Spirits in 1996. By now I have read all of her novels and each one pleased me in different ways. I particularly admire her portrayals of women as strong passionate individuals who do not shy away from using feminine wiles, because they usually do so for the good of most of the people involved. If God is a woman, Isabel Allende was created in her image.
 
The Japanese Lover is an intriguing mix of history, locations, and issues. Some readers and reviewers have caviled about her trying to stuff too many issues into one novel. I find that an unhelpful objection. Life in the 21st century is a global mix of issues from which none of us are free.
 
Because of World War II, several characters in the story found themselves displaced and eventually landed in San Francisco, where they became involved with the wealthy Belasco family. Alma was sent by her parents to the Belascos as a teenager  in order to keep her safe from the Nazis. Lonely and sad, she befriended the son of her aunt and uncle's gardener. 
 
Ichimei Fukuda became the love of her life but they could never marry because of the laws against marriage between whites and Orientals, as they were called then. Just as Ichimei and Alma began to fall in love, the Fukuda family was evacuated to the camps.
 
Near the end of Alma's long and complicated life, others who are helping her with her memoir get drawn into her story and find answers to the mysteries of their own troubles. 
 
This intricate dance of fate, love, heartbreak, and redemption demanded that I pay attention to the many individuals and time periods. Yet I was hooked by the urgency to know what happened. It is not that love conquers all. It is that without love we would be sunk. 
 
 
(The Japanese Lover is available in hardcover on the shelves at Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)

15 comments:

  1. Wonderful review. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It is one of my favorite books of the year.

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  2. Judy, Your review has encouraged me to be willing to try Isabel Allende again. Currently reading Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman, by one of my favorites Sena Jeter Naslund.

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    1. Mizmouse! Lovely to have you in the house!! That is a little poem I made up for you. I do think you might like this one. I have a Sena Jeter Naslund book on my shelves: Abundance. I think your daughter gave it to me. Should I read it?

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    2. I have liked all but one of SJN's works. Adam&Eve did not captivate me though I combed bookstores for years seeking it out, only to be disappointed. Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits would be the first two, and most important, works to read. Abundance was very good, very interesting and oh so difficult as the end neared (knowing what the outcome would be).
      Glad to be "in the house"

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    3. OK, I will start with Ahab's Wife.

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  3. Great review, Judy! I'd like to read this novel in Spanish (since I can :-)), but to pay the full price...Nah, I better wait.
    You are right about how Isabel Allende portrays women; in her eyes we are wondrous creatures capable of great many things, including majestic and enduring love.

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    1. Thanks Carmen. And Merry Christmas to you, wondrous creature!

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    2. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well, Judy.

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  4. Isn't it great that in her eyes love is never smooth but a complicated set of emotions, events, etc?

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  5. Oh this seems like a sad one - a heartbreaker. Perhaps it sounds like a couple others I've read that are internment stories, but each one gets me every time. Nice ending on the review!

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    1. Thanks Susan. Because it is Isabel Allende she manages to turn heartbreak into hope.

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  6. Wonderful review...lovely blog you have ; -)

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    1. Thank you for stopping in and for your comment!

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