Deeply moving read!

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In the Realm of Ash and Sorrow by Kenneth W Harmon       

I must say I really had no idea what I was getting into with this story.
I found it stunning, compassionate and yet could hardly read some parts.
An American bomber, dropping propaganda pamphlets warning people to leave Hiroshima was shot down. Bombardier Mica Lund tries to scramble out, his parachute becomes entangled and he dies on impact. All this happens just as a war widow  Kiyomi Oshiro is passing nearby. In the moment of his death their eyes lock and they become joined in the spirit world. A spirit world that Kiyomi and her daughter Ai can enter when asleep.
So begins an amazing encapsulation of this time in Japan, including the strict customs around living arrangementsand many beliefs.
It sounds somewhat corny but it wasn't. It was respectfully written, unrolling like a deceptively intricate Japanese scroll painting.
The bombing  of Hiroshima was hard to read but again depicted sensitively despite the horror.
The journey of these three delves into human beliefs, war, food shortages, human behavior and Japanese mythologies, transcending cultural and religious barriers.
Hopeful despite the subject matter this is a very moving magic realism ready that I just didn't expect!

 An IBPA ARC via NetGalley

*****

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