Set in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya, the narrative follows Teoh Yun Ling, a survivor of a brutal prisoner-of-war camp. Driven by a promise to her deceased sister, she seeks to build a traditional Japanese garden in the Cameron Highlands. She apprenticed herself to Aritomo, the former gardener to the Emperor of Japan, despite her deep-seated resentment toward his nationality. Their relationship unfolds against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency, utilizing horimono skin art and the concept of shakkei, or borrowed scenery, to process trauma and memory.
Readers of historical fiction and those interested in the post-colonial history of Southeast Asia will find a detailed examination of how individuals reconcile personal loss with national conflict. The book provides a technical look at Japanese aesthetic philosophy and the physical labor required to alter a landscape. A reader walks away with an understanding of the tension between the desire to forget atrocities and the cultural duty to memorialize the dead through art and architecture.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Mindful Reader. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2011
- Language
- EN
