The Japanese Lover

 

Author: Isabel Allende

Narrator: Joanna Gleason

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Year: 2015

My book club’s pick for this month was Isabel Allende’s The Japanese Lover. This was the first book by Allende that I’ve read. It’s a multigenerational story centered around the relationship between Alma Belasco, a Jewish woman, and Icimei Fukuda, a first generation Japanese American citizen. As a child, Alma’s parents send her to live with wealthy relatives in San Francisco when Germany is on the verge of invading their native Poland. There, Alma meets Ichimei, the son of the family’s gardener. Alma and Ichimei become fast friends. Over time, their childhood friendship grows into a passionate love. Their relationship is caught in the tangle of racism and societal expectations, but they always find their way back to each other. 

This is a big sprawling story that spans decades and has a large cast of characters. Book club consensus: Alma was selfish and self centered. Ichimei was maybe too good for her. The supporting characters were really interesting and probably deserve their own books because we wanted to know more about them. A solid read, but we were left wanting the supporting characters stories tied up more. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed Joanna Gleason’s narration. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is perfect for readers who love sprawling multigenerational family dramas or romances that can’t be denied. 

Happy hump day! What’s on your agenda today? We decided to hire someone to hang the drywall in our living room remodel. Hubby just can’t do the up and down on the ladder with his creaky knees.

So today we’ll finish prepping the room to be ready for the drywall guy in a day or two. 

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