The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.

A wonderful piece of prose, this haunting story of the simple people and their tragic lives is a page turner.



sharon (USA: OK) (2009/08/07):
This was my first read of a Gail Tsukiyama book. I very much recommend this book. A very intriguing story of a young Chinese man sent by his family to his grandfather's beach house located in Japan. It was a tumultous time in world history. At this time, 1937, the Imperial Japanese army was invading China. To be in Japan with these events taking place, was a troubling situation for Stephen. His father was a business man that traveled between Japan and Hong Kong, being away from the family for months. He had named all his children western names as he thought it was best since he was an intetnational business man. Stephen meets Matsu, the Japanese housekeeper for the family at the beach house. Matsu introduces Stephen to many Japanese traditions and a leper colony. This story has so many turns and surprises. I could not put it down. I will definitely be looking for more of Ms. Tsukiyama's books.