Betrothed to a military attache in Peking, 20 year old Mary MacKenzie sets sail for China with a frugal trousseau and a suffocating chaperone. But Mary, a young Scotswoman, is lively, curious, unspoiled. The year is 1903, and it will not be long before she scandalizes the British in Peking by falling into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman. Her odyssey begins in earnest when she is torn from her small daughter and turned out of the European community. How she survives in an ancient Eastern culture that barely tolerates women, much less Westerners, is the story of the Ginger Tree, a compelling novel that spans more than forty tumultuous years in the Far East--including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.

The author was born in Tokyo to Scots missionaries.

Released on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 at Bookrelay in Bookrelay, postal release USA.

On the way to raquelsita as part of the BookRelay...

This came in the mail yesterday from Kafka as part of the book relay. It is going in my TBR pile and I am looking forward to reading it.

I tried reading this book but just could not get into it. I don't really like the "diary" sort of writing style...it just doesn't keep my attention.

Being sent to lauraloo29 in Canada to fulfill a wish...

Arrived today. Thank you!

A thought provoking book. I don''t normally enjoy "diary" writing either, but I pressed through and am very glad I finished the book. Interesting at how detached Mary sounds when reading her diary. One has to fill in the deep emotions. An interesting time for women. I''m very happy for the time I have been born into.

I may send this out as a ray.

I'm going to send this out as a ray.

Rules: Not many. Please journal the book's arrival and departure. And please keep it moving by keeping it no longer than 4 weeks. The last person is free to release the book as they wish.

1. bilbi - France (Intl)
2. LeishaCamden - Norway (Intl)
3. Cross-patch - UK (Europe)
4. Pell - Italy (Intl but close please)
5. iliotropio - Belgium (Intl)
6. VeganMedusa - NZ (Aus/NZ or US)
7. nikkilovesbooks - Australia (Intl)

Beginning its journey on August 21st. Happy travelling!

3 books received today !

Many thanks for sharing this one !

I've been reading a lot of Asian books lately.

Happy BC to you all \o/

This book arrived in the mail from France today. Thanks, laura and bilbi! :-) I have three bookrings in the house already, but I'll try to get to this soon. I'll journal again when I've read the book.

I started reading this book on Wednesday, October 24th. Sorry for being slow with it - bookrings travel in packs ... !

I am reading the book now though, and I love it!! It's even better than I expected. I have never read a book in diary/letter form that has been so convincing. Normally books in this style are chock full of direct speech and so are not believable for a second. But this book is totally different. I'm very impressed. I also am fascinated by the setting - as I visited Beijing myself a couple of years ago some of the places described are familiar to me, and that gives the story added depth for me so far.

I will journal again when I've finished the book.

I finished this book on Wednesday, November 14th. (Again, I'm sorry for taking so long.)

What an absolutely wonderful book it was!! I am SO glad I joined this ring. And even discovered that there was a book. :-) I don't remember much of the TV series except how much I liked it, but from what little I do remember I think they must have changed the plot quite a lot. Simplified it. I want to watch it again now ... !

There's really nothing I can say by the way of negative criticism of this book. It's all good. :-) The story is fascinating, moving and intriguing. The setting is very well researched (a lot of it from personal experience, apparently) and very convincing, as are the characters. I found all the characters totally believable. The one thing I found very strange - how Mary had her journal notes and her own letters to her friend Marie, yet no letters *from* Marie - was explained convincingly eventually. The ending was so sad yet made me feel warm and fuzzy ... it ended in the best possible way, it was simply sad because her life had been so tragic in many ways and because there was no way of knowing what was to become of her now. But it was a very satisfying ending, to me anyway.

The one main thing I love the book for is the fact that it actually managed to be convincing in its format. It is presented as a series of journal notes and letters, and as such is entirely convincing. I don't think I have EVER read a book in this format that has been convincing. Writers just don't seem to understand the format that they're using in those cases - it's like they've never written a letter or kept a journal - they ruin it with huge blocks of dialogue and direct speech. (For a famous example of what I mean, take a look at 'Bridget Jones's Diary'.) This book was 100% convincing and that just totally blew me away. Not entirely without direct speech, but in the cases when it's used it is in moments which are of pivotal importance to the narrator. So it actually works in the diary & letter format. An absolute gem.

One thing I found a little doubtful and think may be incorrect in the book. One of Mary's friends has a dual citizenship - this is in the early 40s part of the story - one of these being American because he was born in Hawaii. This I think may be in error. I'm a Keanu Reeves fan ;-) and I recently followed a discussion on a fan board about why he doesn't have American citizenship. Some of the participants were pretty adamant that he must have this as he is the son of an American citizen, but quotes were presented, by Keanu himself (from interviews), confirming that his only citizenship is Canadian. This was confusing for a while until someone dug up the following facts: any child born abroad (in this case, Lebanon) to one or two parents of US nationality (in this case, one) is entitled to US citizenship IF said parent/s have resided in the US for a minimum of ten years previous to the child's birth. And in Keanu's case, he's not entitled to citizenship, because his father is Hawaiian, and at the time of his son's birth in September 1964 Hawaii had only been a state for five years, thus meaning that Sam Reeves had not resided in the US for the required ten year period, although he had spent almost all his life in Hawaii. So that ended the debate. But if this is correct, how would it be possible for a man born decades earlier to have gotten US citizenship simply based on place of birth if he was born in Hawaii ... ??

If any future reader of the book can explain this I'll be very interested. :-)

I'll PM Cross-patch for her address and get the book moving again finally. :-) Thank you so much for sharing, lauraloo!! (And for your patience too. ;-)

RELEASE NOTES:

I sent the book off to Cross-patch in England this afternoon. I hope it makes the trip safely. Happy reading, C-p, and take care!! :-)

Thank you, I've got the book - I think it must have gone on its holidays on the way here though! I'm really looking forward to reading it; the blurb has a very tempting way about it. Thank you LeishaCamden and a Merry Christmas to everyone.

I found the period and events fascinating. I felt the unemotional presentation particularly effective and enjoyed the last few days reading Mary's story. I never did see the television series so had no preconceptions, to my advantage, I think.

I shall now contact Pell.

Arrived safely on Saturday,thank you crosspatch. Started reading it immediately, its my kind of book

Sorry, but forgot to journal this book, I really enjoyed this, although i found it quite difficult to read this one quickly. I have forwarded it on to Iliotropo, hope you enjoy it.

Arrived safely in Brussels. Many thanks Pell!

A captivating bitter-sweet story, currently on its way to New Zealand!

Thanks iliotropio. :) Will get this read asap.

This book really annoyed me at the beginning and I didn't think I'd bother finishing it. But at around 100 pages it seemed to get more interesting and the last third of the book flew by. Really lovely insight into life in Japan in that era.
But the diary form did niggle at me - I'm the kind of person who doesn't even see the beginning of each entry (the place and date), my brain just doesn't think it's necessary to register it. So I found myself having to go back and check the dates when years or decades went by between diary entries.
And sometimes the language was kind of awkward and I'd have to read a sentence twice to understand what was being said.
But a great story that was worth reading. I liked the ending, too.
Thanks lauraloo29 for starting this ray. :) Sending to nikkilovesbooks sometime this week.

Posted (economy) to nikkilovesbooks today. :)

Thanks VeganMedusa for posting the book over and a special big Thank you for the extra specials included in the pack. Funnily enough, I recieved 2 books from NZ today - this one & a mooched book. I'm interested to read Ginger Tree even more now after going thru all of your journal entries.
I'll place it on the top of my TBR's and release it as a RABCK once finished. Thanks for sharing Lauraloo29.

I really enjoyed this story of an such an independant woman and her interesting life in a strange land. I'm happy to offer it on the forum as a RABCK, unless you have other plans for it Lauraloo29. Let me know - if not I'll raffle it off on the weekend.

This book was won in a RABCK draw by GingerWhinger. I'm posting it off to you on Monday - a big Hello from my family to yours and I hope you love this engaging story.

Arrived today!
What a well travel little book!
Thank you so much for sending it,
its on the very top of my TBRs

x

ummm well it wasnt quite at the top of my TBRs!!
I really really enjoyed this book and didnt want it to end....
although I couldnt put it down (an awful catch 22!!)

Am passing it on today as an extra Xmas treat
A huge Thanks to everyone who has ever posted this book on somewhere so that eventually I could read it :)
Happy Holidays!!

x

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

off to BertieBassett
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!

Whoops this was lurking at the bottom of my suitcase!!
Looking forward to reading it

I bought this book for a pound at a charity bookcase at the Gatwick airport train station in London. From the journal entries it looks like it’s been ion someone’s bookshelf for many years. I feel Ike it was happy to have it’s pages read again. I enjoyed this book very much and liked the author’s stylistic choice to write it from a single point of view through letters and journal entries. Telling the story in chronological order helped me put all the historical pieces together. I hope it continues to travel.

I was given the book by a friend. As others have said - the diary and letters format takes a little while to get used to, but what a fascinating read. It is set in a time and place that I dont know much about, so it was both a good story and informative at the same time.
I will pass it on to a friend, though it is getting tatty and I think it may lose pages soon!