Reading this novel is like watching a 3-season long K-drama with family feud, tragic events, natural disasters, death, as well as the portrayal of many of Japanese traditional customs – miai, kabuki, cherry blossom viewing, firefly catching party, traditional dances, etc… They were all happening against the backdrop of a Japan a few years right before WWII.
I thought the novel was unnecessarily long in regards to too many descriptions of Yukiko’s miais and her family’s failures to find her a good husband. I got bored at times.
Nevertheless this is a great novel in modern Japanese literature in terms of the many big topics it covers and the master storytelling of one of the most important authors in Japanese literature.
T. Hoang Nov. 2019
Temy Reads Lit 