Journal Entry 1 by ID20080001 on Monday, January 31, 2005

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.

 

Journal Entry 2 by eriko1908 from Plymouth, Minnesota USA on Sunday, April 24, 2005

This book was passed along to me on moving day...I was told that it is "very good" and that I just "had to read it"...so I guess I will give it a shot before passing it along to the others!! :O) 

Journal Entry 3 by eriko1908 from Plymouth, Minnesota USA on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

This was a very beautiful story...I wanted to jump right into the pages & become a part of it...There is so much that I want to say about it, but I don't think my words will do it justice...I enjoyed watching the characters grow throughout the book & at times it broke my heart...

I'll be sharing this one tomorrow night...with one of "the girls"... 

Journal Entry 4 by arugh48187 from Minneapolis, Minnesota USA on Thursday, February 23, 2006

The recommendations of my girls are always spot on. I am looking forward to delving in.