Astounding!
Fifty Words for Rain: A Novel by Asha Lemmie
The last words a mother says to her young daughter before abandoning her were,
"“Promise me. Promise me that you will obey in all things. Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist. Do not think if thinking will lead you somewhere you ought not to be. Only smile and do as you are told. Only your life is more important than your obedience. Only the air you breathe. Promise me this.”"
Kyoto 1948 and a young girl of mixed race is left on the doorstep of her grandparent's estate. We trace her story from when she's confined to the estate's attic, subjected to chemical sponge downs to alter the color of her skin and constantly reminded of how worthless she is. Eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza wasn't quite left on the hillside with wolves but it is a near thing metaphorically speaking.
I was completely struck down by the underlying poignancy of Noriko's physical treatment along with the emotional abuse she was subjected to. Attitudes and expectations in post war Japan in the upper echelons of the aristocracy, a strictly tiered society, are portrayed at a time when saving face is everything.
This is a tragedy with immense moments of change but tragedy is a constant right to the end. In my mind the story sits within the milieu of a Shakespearean tragedy maybe with a dash of Flowers in the Attic. Fifty Words had me glued even as there were moments when I became completely unstuck.
Music plays a part and like a musical composition the story's crescendo rises to a glorious triumphant moment and then crashes onto shores of a harsh yet nuanced reality. I was left wondering whether Nori will perpetuate tragedies or be able to rise beyond them. More questions than resolutions. Did I want that? Possibly I wanted a fairytale ending. But this is no fairytale, it's a tragedy. Nori balances between strength and weakness, between choosing and not. As she says, "I have always deserved to die. But I refused."
I wondered about Japanese forms of Tragedy. It seems that Japanese literary traditions do not align with Western traditions of Tragedies.
However, one scholar, C. Andrew Gerstle in "The Concept of Tragedy in Japanese Drama" Japan Review No. 1 (1990), pp. 49-72) refers to particular areas of drama such as "the 'Women' plays of Noh and the third-act pieces of Bunraku—[that] focus on heroes who though caught in a difficult situation consciously choose their paths, which lead often to the extreme edges of human suffering."
Nori experiences that "extreme edge" and although she doesn't consciously choose her path, her life experience has trapped her well and truly as much as she tries to escape. A place she constantly treads and from which escape seems impossible. This forms the backbone of this startling and moving novel.
A Penguin Dutton ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
*****
"“Promise me. Promise me that you will obey in all things. Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist. Do not think if thinking will lead you somewhere you ought not to be. Only smile and do as you are told. Only your life is more important than your obedience. Only the air you breathe. Promise me this.”"
Kyoto 1948 and a young girl of mixed race is left on the doorstep of her grandparent's estate. We trace her story from when she's confined to the estate's attic, subjected to chemical sponge downs to alter the color of her skin and constantly reminded of how worthless she is. Eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza wasn't quite left on the hillside with wolves but it is a near thing metaphorically speaking.
I was completely struck down by the underlying poignancy of Noriko's physical treatment along with the emotional abuse she was subjected to. Attitudes and expectations in post war Japan in the upper echelons of the aristocracy, a strictly tiered society, are portrayed at a time when saving face is everything.
This is a tragedy with immense moments of change but tragedy is a constant right to the end. In my mind the story sits within the milieu of a Shakespearean tragedy maybe with a dash of Flowers in the Attic. Fifty Words had me glued even as there were moments when I became completely unstuck.
Music plays a part and like a musical composition the story's crescendo rises to a glorious triumphant moment and then crashes onto shores of a harsh yet nuanced reality. I was left wondering whether Nori will perpetuate tragedies or be able to rise beyond them. More questions than resolutions. Did I want that? Possibly I wanted a fairytale ending. But this is no fairytale, it's a tragedy. Nori balances between strength and weakness, between choosing and not. As she says, "I have always deserved to die. But I refused."
I wondered about Japanese forms of Tragedy. It seems that Japanese literary traditions do not align with Western traditions of Tragedies.
However, one scholar, C. Andrew Gerstle in "The Concept of Tragedy in Japanese Drama" Japan Review No. 1 (1990), pp. 49-72) refers to particular areas of drama such as "the 'Women' plays of Noh and the third-act pieces of Bunraku—[that] focus on heroes who though caught in a difficult situation consciously choose their paths, which lead often to the extreme edges of human suffering."
Nori experiences that "extreme edge" and although she doesn't consciously choose her path, her life experience has trapped her well and truly as much as she tries to escape. A place she constantly treads and from which escape seems impossible. This forms the backbone of this startling and moving novel.
A Penguin Dutton ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
*****
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