The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein

It is probably not a huge surprise to those of you who have followed my blog for some time to learn that as soon as I heard about this book I wanted to read it! A well-written book set against the backdrop of World War II. Yes, please! I had intended to read the author's debut novel after hearing many good things about it but I haven't yet done so.

I was, however, very pleasantly surprised to find that this book was so much more than just another war story. Jennifer Cody Epstein has written a lovely exploration of the lives of a group of characters that spans the years leading up to World War II, a couple of key events that don't necessarily get a lot of coverage now, and then touching base again after the war is over.

The story opens in 1935 with a young couple who are just beginning a relationship. For Cameron Richards, Lacey Robertson is the girl who he is unusually comfortable with and, even at this early stage he is beginning to think that she may be the one girl for him.  One of the other most significant loves of Cameron's life is his dream of flying, a dream that has helped cocoon him from a father who he has always disappointed.

The story then moves to Japan, to the home of an American architect named Anton Reynolds who has lived in Japan for many years along with his wife and son, Billy. At a dinner party, the family is entertaining a master builder named Kenji Kobayashi, his glamourous English educated wife Hana and their precocious daughter Yoshi. Billy has a new found passion for photography that his disapproving father is tolerating but not encouraging and he finds a willing model in Hana. His Japanese childhood and his photography will lead Billy back to Japan after the war is over, but as a man, Billy has a secret that threatens to destroy his life.

Each of these characters play a role in the story but the main focus is really on Yoshi, who either through a physical object, or emotionally or physically is connected to each of the other characters. If Yoshi is the main character, then the main event is the fire bombing of Tokyo during 1945 which destroyed vast swathes of the city, killing nearly 100,000 people in the process. Whilst we remember the dropping of the atomic bombs, and rightfully so, these fire bombing attacks are not something that I remember hearing very much about. I must give kudos to the author because these scenes are so well written. The fear that the characters feel, the despair as they watch people die painful deaths around them, the terror of not knowing if your loved ones are alive or not - I was so moved as I read these scenes.

The author very cleverly connects the various vignettes, ensuring that the reader is invested in the lives of most of the characters, no matter what their role in the story is. As the threads that tie each of the characters together are revealed, the reader is exposed to the cruelties of war - the atrocities, the strain on those who live daily with the threat of losing all they own including their life, the strain on those left behind wondering what has happened to their loved ones as well as to the secrets that we keep even from those we love.  There was only one time where I felt like I had missed something as we jumped forward in time, when I wasn't quite sure of how Yoshi got from where we had last seen her to where she was.

As an exploration of a single event, of interconnected lives and of the price of war, this is an excellent read which I highly recommend. Now I am off to request The Painter of Shanghai, the author's debut novel. If it is anything like this, then I am expecting to really enjoy that one too.

Rating 4.5/5

Tour Details

Link to Tour Schedule
Jennifer Cody Esptein's website.
Jennifer Cody Epstein on Facebook
Jennifer Cody Epstein on Twitter.

Synopsis

A lush, exquisitely-rendered meditation on war,The God of Heavenly Punishment tells the story of several families, American and Japanese, their loves and infidelities, their dreams and losses, and how they are all connected by one of the most devastating acts of war in human history.

In 1935, Yoshi Kobayashi is the six-year-old daughter of a sophisticated, iconoclastic mother and an unread, nationalistic father. Years later, as a teen in Manchuria, she witnesses, first-hand, the harsh realities Japan’s expansionist dreams—even as she discovers the first blush of love. During the worst days of the war in Tokyo, Yoshi balances school work with ration lines—even while caring for her mother whose rebellious spirit has been brutally broken by the men who wage war. Then, one March night, Yoshi’s world is finally consumed by flame when hundreds of American B-29’s scorch the night sky, showering napalm down upon her city. Left alone among the ruins, Yoshi’s fate will now depend on her will to live and the unlikely intersections with three men whom she’d have once considered “enemies”: a downed American bomber pilot, a Hungarian-born architect, and an Occupying Forces intelligence officer with his own damning secret.

The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is about vastly different nations who are tied inextricably to one another, first in enmity and then alliance. It’s a story of physical lust and military power; of wartime atrocity and small acts of human kindness. It is a sweeping tale about the redemptive power of forgiveness even in the face of devastating acts of violence.

Apologies to TLC Booktours for being a couple of days late with this review. My blogging malaise is hanging on strong at the moment.

Cover story: The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

Historical fiction set in Asia, especially in India and Japan, are normally a hit for me. A few days ago I was browsing throught some sites, and I saw this cover:

I was completely flabbergasted. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, the colors are almost hypnotic ! When I visited the author's, Katherine Govier, website I learned that this is the US edition of The Ghost Brush, which cover you can see above.

While japanese art in a cover is always a pleasure, I do prefer the first one. The colors alone made me want to buy the book. Which one do you prefer ?

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell

Set on the Island of f Dejima in Japan in the early 19th century, Jacob De Zoet was trying to make a name for himself. Jacob has come all the way from Holland as a young clerk in the hopes of making his fortune. The plan was to go back to Holland to his fiancée and marry her with the approval of her wealthy father.

While on Dejima, Jacob has a chance encounter with Ortio Aibagawa, a midwife who was granted permission to learn medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Marinus. It is very rare to see a Japanese woman unless she is a prostitute. Jacob becomes infatuated with her.

The first chapter of the book grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. It was of a childbirth that Ortio was midwife for. The child appeared to be dead but Ortio breathed life into him. It's too bad that the next 130 pages didn't hold my interest much. They were about the day to day business of Jacob as a clerk. To me they were boring and at times, hard to understand. I felt like I needed to have an interest in Jacob's job as a clerk, to understand what was going on. Historically, it seemed quite accurate but painfully boring to me.

When Ortio was brought back onto the pages, the story picked up again for me. She ended up in a horrific place that I had to see resolved. That is what kept me reading this book. It was these parts of the book that made me fall in love with David Mitchell's writing.

I have had David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green on my "to be read" list for a very long time. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is the first book I have read by him but certainly won't be the last.

3.5/5

The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz

It is 1959 when Haruko, a young woman of good family, marries the Crown Prince of Japan, the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. She is the first non-aristocratic woman to enter the longest-running, almost hermetically sealed, and mysterious monarchy in the world. Met with cruelty and suspicion by the Empress and her minions, Haruko is controlled at every turn. The only interest the court has in her is her ability to produce an heir. After finally giving birth to a son, Haruko suffers a nervous breakdown and loses her voice. However, determined not to be crushed by the imperial bureaucrats, she perseveres. Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman—a rising star in the foreign ministry—to accept the marriage proposal of her son, the Crown Prince. The consequences are tragic and dramatic.

Told in the voice of Haruko, meticulously researched and superbly imagined, The Commoner is the mesmerizing, moving, and surprising story of a brutally rarified and controlled existence at once hidden and exposed, and of a complex relationship between two isolated women who, despite being visible to all, are truly understood only by each other. With the unerring skill of a master storyteller, John Burnham Schwartz has written his finest novel yet.

An online friend read this book and gave it a five out of five. That may not normally be enough for me to pick up a book, but she is rather picky about her reading and rarely seems to give book higher than the three range, so I decided that was a good enough reason for me! As soon as I saw that five, it didn't even matter the subject matter, I knew that it was something I should pick up. I am very glad that I did! I had never heard of the author before and I wasn't very familiar with the subject, but once I got caught up in the pages all of that was quickly forgotten!

A lot of my history seems to centre around my own history, with a bit of random stuff thrown in. There is so much to learn about when it comes to history, though, that you cannot be an expert on everything. Japan is not an aspect of history that I have ever really concentrated on. Not that it is not interesting, but more along the lines that you really can't read everything. I do find Japanese history worthy, they are the oldest monarch after all, but I was concentrating on Western history. It is nice to break out of your comfort zone once in a while, though, and I am glad that I chose to with this book.

One of the biggest problems, for me, with male authors is when they try to write about women. It is not an easy thing to do to pretend to be the other sex; to get into their head, but I think he did a really good job! He was trying to portray the isolation that came with being a member of the Royal Family, while at the same time see it from a female point-of-view. Being royalty, in many ways, is something that you just have to be born for. Not everyone takes to it, that is for sure, and the two women that are looked at exclusively in this novel have a very hard time coming to terms with it. They are, in essence, commoners, and this is a life that they have never had to be a part of before. With it comes many responsibilites that they may not actually be ready for! They have a role to play, and it is not what they were raised to aspire to, that is for sure...

Wonderfully written, this novel was well-worth my time! I strongly recommend it. It inspired me to hopefully read more books on Japanese history, but that does not mean the chance will present itself! So many books, so little time, after all! I hope others will give it a chance!

The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer

How do you fall in love when your society has no word for it?

An epic novel closely based on historical events, The Last Concubine is the story of a shogun, a princess and the three thousand women of the women’s palace - all of whom really existed - and of the civil war that brought their way of life to an end ...

It is 1861.. Growing up deep in the mountains of rural Japan, Sachi has always felt different, her pale skin and fine features setting her apart from her friends and family.

Then, when she is just eleven, an imperial princess passes through her village and sweeps her off to the women's palace in the great city of Edo. Bristling with intrigue and erotic rivalries, the palace is home to three thousand women and only one man - the young shogun. Sachi is chosen as his concubine.

But Japan is changing. Black Ships have come from the West, bringing foreigners eager to add Japan to their colonial empires. As civil war erupts, Sachi flees for her life.

Rescued by a rebel warrior, she finds unknown feelings stirring within her. But before she dare dream of a life with him, Sachi must unravel the mystery of her own origins – a mystery that encompasses a wrong so terrible that it threatens to destroy her ....

Set in one of the most tumultuous eras in Japanese history, Sachi's story is a potent mix of adventure and high romance. From the timeless beauty of the women's palace in Edo to bloody battles fought outside its walls, The Last Concubine is an epic evocation of a country in revolution, and of a young woman's quest to find out who she really is.

From the timeless beauty of the Women’s Palace in Edo to bloody battles fought outside its walls, The Last Concubine is an epic evocation of a country in revolution, and of a young woman’s quest to find out who she really is.

Japan in the mid 1800's was still very much a feudal society, still functioning in the ways of the emperor and the shogun, that is until the country was split into north and south factions and fought a very bloody civil war. Where the Western world was hurtling headlong into the Industrial age, Japan was a land of ancient rituals.

Sachi is a young girl who is plucked from a rural village and sent to be a maid in the shogun's palace in Edo (which we now know of as Tokyo). It is a very disciplined life in the women's court. There are 3000 women, and only one man, so it is therefore quite an honour if you catch the attention of the young shogun as Sachi does. It is also a life with very strict rules about behaviour, lots of warrior training, and lavish clothes and beauty regimes. Once a young girl entered the life of the court, it was highly likely that they would not be able to leave the environs of the castle, and certainly if they are not chosen to be the shogun's concubine they will have nothing to do with men from that point on.

As war comes to Edo, Sachi is chosen to be a decoy to try and protect the life of the Imperial princess, and so begins the great adventure which takes her back to the village she grew up in where she finds out more about who her real parents were. Along the way she is assisted by a trio of warriors, one of whom, Shinzaemon, makes her heart beats faster even though she knows that it against the strict rules to fraternise with any man, let alone one who finds himself on the losing side of the conflict that is tearing apart Japan.

Also on her adventures she meets a European man - very strange looking, with no idea of how to treat a proper Japanese lady. The Europeans are looking to expand into Japan and to bring the Industrial age to a country where very little had changed in hundreds of years. They come in their black ships, and bring their strange contraptions (carriages) and there is even talk of their iron monsters (trains)

Lesley Downer has had several non-fiction books published and there is no doubt that she knows her subject. What didn't happen very well is the translation to a fiction story. There were plot elements that were introduced hurriedly towards the end of the book that really seemed quite disconnected from the first half of the book, especially the two mysteries that were uncovered and then needed to be resolved in the second half of the book. Really only one of them was resolved, and whilst in the author's note she explains what the historical context of the second mystery was and how it really is still an unresolved matter, in some ways it seems kind of superfluous to the plot.

By trying to cover the events of not one, but two sets of doomed lovers (both Sachi and Shin and her parents), there were times when the narrative of the relationships lost some of their potency. I did enjoy the build up of the relationship between Sachi and Shin, and the subtlety of their romance reflected the delicacy of the rituals that Sachi was used to participating in, whilst still breaking all the rules. The tragedy that could have befallen Sachi if her love was exposed was always hovering just below the surface and tainted the interactions between the two with beautiful subtlety.

Reading about Sachi's life and the various traditions and disciplines that shaped her life was very interesting so it is a shame that the narrative didn't quite work for me. I will keep an eye out to see if this author writes another novel and would hope to see some growth in her writing style, because the setting that she has chosen to specialise in is fascinating, and not at all over done in historical fiction.