The Blossom and the Firefly

The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith    320 pages

 This blurb from the dust jacket is what drew me to this novel: “Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country . . . until he meets Hana. Hana hasn't been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day . . . until she meets Taro.”

Hana is 15 years old; Taro is 17. The war is starting to wind down with Japan not on the winning side.

Hana is one of the local school girls who work at the airbase. Their job is to support and companionship to the latest batch of kamikaze pilots.  The girls cook, wash and mend their clothes, talk with them, and when it’s time to takeoff, the wave goodbye with cherry blossoms.

Hana has watched her heart; she has never even learned any of their names…that is until Taro arrives from training.

Both are musicians, Hana plays the koto while Taro plays the violin.  They are instantly drawn to each, which makes both of their jobs very difficult.

 I haven’t read any novels before that were from the perspective of Japanese young adults.  For me, the plot dragged and there was little tension. Every time I ran across a Japanese word, I was pulled out of the story.  Much to my chagrin, when I finished the book, I found a glossary in the back.  If I had known it was there, my feelings might be different. Alas, “The Blossom and the Firefly” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

A Hundred Suns

A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe 400 pages

One of my all-time favorite authors, Fiona Davis, called this novel “A haunting evocative tale.” USA Today said that it “…leaves you gripping the edge of your seat.”  I was excited to read this book.

I curled up in my favorite reading chair, ready to had to a faraway land (French Indochine [now Viet Nam], 1933) to join a family dynasty (Michelin [as in rubber]) and following a trail of secrets. At 400 pages, I was ready for a long escape from the stay-at home orders of the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic.

The first chapter opens in the Hanoi train station on November 20, 1933. Author Remmer does an excellent job in capturing its feel…and by the time I reached the end of Chapter One, I was sure that this would be a wonderful novel. It felt like something out of Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Chapter Two backs the story up and the rest of the novel explains how a minor cousin of the famous Michelin family, Victor Lesage and his family had arrived in order to be the overseers of two rubber plantations. They are the first of the famous family to ever reside on the plantations.  Riots and massacres are no strangers to the area, but back in France, the Michelins have been able to ignore it.

And that’s where the author lost me. It was a tough read after that. I didn’t understand all the French, and I assume what we now call Vietnamese, words. Not to mention the names of places that I couldn’t decipher nor could I place in either the Northern or Southern parts of the country.

As I read some of the Hitchcockian chapters returned, and I would be glad I had slogged through. But then that joy quickly disappeared again. 

I’m sure the problems I encountered with this novel were more me than the author’s fault. But still, I must give “A Hundred Suns” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.