by: Asha Lemmie
Goodreads description:
From debut author Asha Lemmie, a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s quest for acceptance in post–World War II Japan.
Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “If a woman knows nothing else, she should know how to be silent. . . . Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.” Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her shameful skin.
The illegitimate child of a Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Though her grandparents take her in, they do so only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life for what it is, despite her natural intellect and nagging curiosity about what lies outside the attic’s walls. But when chance brings her legitimate older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him the first person who will allow her to question, and the siblings form an unlikely but powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything.
Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to try to break free.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓 1/2
Great historical fiction mixed with a Japanese soap opera…Have you ever heard the term “trauma porn”? (vulgar- I know!). I recently read a review of this book that described it that way….How much bad stuff can happen to one person?? Keep reading to find out…and that I did. There’s a lot of heartache in this story. Compelling and a very easy read, pick it up if you need a good cry or have a long flight ahead of you.
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓1/4
I really liked this book. Another “when bad things happen to good people” story – which seems to be the literary theme of 2023. This is a pretty amazing first novel! A very interesting story, but very heart wrenching. Spoiler alert: If you are looking for a happy ending, look elsewhere, because this is NOT it; but, if you are looking for a compelling read, give it a go!
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 