lizzy_balmain 's review for:

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

5.0

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Absolutely one of my favourite books. Centered around a Chinese Malayan woman, Teoh Yun Ling, retelling the story of her unexpected companionship with a Japanese gardener in Malaya after WWII. The predominant plot tells of Yun Ling creating a japanese garden in honour of her sister, killed whilst a Japanese POW during the war. Yun Ling also talks about the Japanese atrocities during the war and her relationship to her past both in its immediate aftermath and 40 years on. We are taken through Yun Ling's time creating the garden under apprenticeship to Nakamura Aritomo, former gardener to the Emporer of Japan, learning about the art of Japanese gardening against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency. This book is beautiful, horrifying, and a fascinating exploration of human connection through art and beauty.
I most recently listened to the Audible version of this book, narrated by Anna Bentinck, who brings the characters most exquisitely to life.