#womens fiction
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Publisher!
5 out of 5 stars
I decided to pick up The Woman in the White Kimono because I have been craving something different than my usual reads. And boy am I happy that I got approved to read this heartbreaking and at the same time heartwarming tale.
The Woman in the White Kimono is a tale of the American Occupation of Japan from 1953 to 1957 and the consequences of it. The reader is presented with a split narrative - that of a young Japanese woman in 1957 (Naoko) and a young journalist with a dying father in present day Detroit (Tori). I must say that the start of the novel turned me off for a bit - it read like a Japanese Romeo and Juliette and the perfect relationship between father and daughter just did not seem real. However, all of that changed, into a really dark novel.
Slight Spoilers ahead
The novel turns into a story of what happened between the Americans who occupied Japan and the women. As in any occupation, babies happen; sure some come from love but a lot of them came from rape, opportunistic practices and other encounters. Whichever way, the women and the babies born during this time were ostracized and vilified. Over ten thousand babies were born to Japanese woman and American men. They did not belong to any country and those that did survive found a lifetime of hardship and discrimination. Japan is a nation of tradition, deep spiritual beliefs and profound pride - anything which shames and disrespects these must not be tolerated. The half Japanese and American babies were a product of losing a war, of losing honor and of deep shame - they were swept under, not to be seen, heard or spoken of. The Woman in the White Kimono explores all of these notions, shows the struggle of women found themselves in these predicaments and explores the unbelievable amount of courage these women had. It speaks of love, fear, family, pride and the ever-changing time. This is the story of Naoko, while Tori must come to terms with having a not so perfect father.
“Father is but another name for God” (Jay Kristoff) and when you find out that your own father is not the perfect man you have always envisioned and believed - it shakes you to the core. Like I said before - Tori’s relationship with her father in the beginning of the book was completely unreal to me - I am sorry but a grown up woman who cannot see any faults in her father is just unbelievable. However, once she finds out that he had a previous marriage and a baby in 1957 in Japan - it changes. All of a sudden she realizes that she doesn’t know who he is and what happened and to make peace with his past she must find his previous family. Tori’s story revolves around understanding that a person does not have to be perfect to be a good father. She comes to understand that to accept and love someone is to do so with every choice they have ever made. In the end - Tori re-establishes her faith in her father and understands herself better.
All in all - it is a wonderful book, full of wisdom, life struggles, love and family. My only issue is that the ancestry of the father get’s mixed up in a few passages - at first the author says he is from Slovakia and then Hungary - while those two countries border each other - they’re not the same. Otherwise I really enjoyed this novel.
~Iryna
The Whisper Network
by Chandler Baker
Once I had turned the final page of The Whisper Network, I revisited how the book was categorized. How was this page-turning whodunnit and what was actually done catalogued? Was this a thriller? A piece of literary fiction? A crime novel? Adult fiction? What I found it under was “Women’s Fiction.”
Hm. Then I wondered, is there a “Men’s Fiction” section?
When I started reading the book, I didn’t know what I was getting into, ostensibly a high-functioning office politics drama. But The Whisper Network is delightfully decadent and also so literary that I found myself highlighting passages because they rang so true. This has become more of a rarity in my experience of crime-type dramas and so-called “women’s fiction.” Books of this ilk tend to sacrifice savvy for salaciousness and three-dimensional characters for two-sided arguments. This book does neither. It creates a complex tapestry of the inner workings of a corporation, particularly the legal department - an apt department indeed, considering sexual harassment becomes the topic of debate. Where better to hash it out than amongst the best legal council possible?
And yet, this plot makes the arguments regarding sexual harassment and power in the workplace that much more nuanced. Because if a list were to surface - say, a list of individuals to avoid in your career - would you take it an a gift and sidestep? Or would you see it as an offense against said individuals’ possibly very reputable characters?
And I simply could not put it down. I couldn’t wait to see what happened to our varied heroines as they navigated the muddy waters of their careers. Because in those moments, they were us - waffling, debating, discerning, hashing, taking action, failing, and regretting, - plotting, researching, networking, investigating, reflecting, discovering, raging and triumphing. And so the craftiest bit of the novel is this - a device I cannot recall having seen - or, read. The book shifts regularly to first person plural.
What? the Literary geek in you exclaims.
Yes, “we” are included for whole chapters. And with each “we” it’s possible I’ve been manipulated into reading on and on, or it’s possible “we” includes me in the war so I don’t feel so alone in my own. But in the end, we don’t care one way or another, because just like in life, we don’t feel like there’s anywhere to go but forward.
*B3 received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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next on my reading list is ‘Milkman’ by Anna Burns, can’t wait! This cover is so gorgeous too ✨
Hello!
So, some of you might have read my lesbian western romance ‘Night Fires in the Distance’. That has since spawned a novella and a new follow up novel, titled ‘One Nation Afire’ - this follows the adventures of Rachel, hot tempered ace woman posing as a Union soldier. Utsehta, a half-Osage ten year old caught up in the Confederate army. And Laura and Cecelia, the lesbian couple from the first book, living in Confederate occupied territory.
It’s feminist, it’s action packed, it looks at race, sexuality and war - and it’s less that £4 on Amazon! I encourage you to go check out all three books in the series - Night Fires in the Distance, Smoke Through the Pines and this new instalment.
The fact I shaved my legs today seems like big news BUT even bigger news is the fact that WARPAINT (a book I did with the amazing author, J.J. Maya) bounces between the #1 & #3 spot for best books on the Kindle Unlimited (international site)! I couldn’t be prouder! (I helped, sure, but props go to J.J. Maya for hustling!–self publishing is hard so give her props!!!–this book just pubbed in March, people!)
(Also, this proves the fact that people are hungry–reading/needing writers & their stories now more than ever! & this is a fun/entertaining read set in the makeup world–from Scotland to NYC–& even deals with the immigration topic in a delightful way … No, really! The characters are charming &, well–read & find out for yourself!)
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This is SO COOL!!!! (One of my Feral Girl Books here!)
WARPAINT by
@JJMaya6
+
@BobbiBrown
Crushed Liquid Lipstick in “Big Apple”
Read the book + get the lipstick:
http://readyourlipstick.com/2020/04/30/warpaint/
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