Asha LemmieCríticas

Beautiful story about a young girl from a mixed relationship (Japanese and Black American) who is sent to live with her grandmother. The grandmother is embarrassed by the child, Nori. She beats her, and forces her to bleach her skin. She also keeps her hidden in the house. This all changes when her half-brother, Akira, comes to the grandparents home. He is an accomplished musician, and his music and his kindness entrance Nori. As the heir to the family, he is able to change Nori's fate. But, she is still an outcast in the eyes of her grandparents.
This is a story of resilience and love.

This book was such a frustrating read for me. How it is rated so high I cannot even fathom; to date it is the only book that I have rated one star, and I am usually generous with my ratings.

I was initially drawn to the book because it has a lovely cover and I am a cover snob. Even my coworker and fellow cover snob agreed, there is something about the dark blue and the pink that is really quite pleasing. However, upon reading the book, it became clear that I had been bamboozled, and for once my method of choosing books by their covers failed (who could've seen that coming?).

Unlike the cover, there was nothing pleasing about the plot or the writing, which is why I have rated it so low. I took off a few stars for plot, another star for the poor writing, and finally I dropped it down to one star today because months after reading I am somehow still thinking about how mad I am at this book. The plot was entirely too predictable, all of the characters were flat, and the ending was equal parts dull and nonsensical. At the heart of it all it attempted to reconcile poor Nori with her supposed place in society, but it read more as tragedy porn.

This was absolutely heartbreaking. Though I'm not a fan of the ending, Nori's story will stay with me for a while...

I went back and forth between two and three stars. The story held my interest. Everything was SEEPED with drama. That drama was sometimes in line with the characters and plot, and sometimes it just seemed overwrought. I didn't buy the character development. It felt inconsistent. Often characters changed their minds or made snap decisions that didn't seem at all in line with the circumstances or with who they were shown to be up to that point.

I loved this fascinating look at post-war Japan until the end, which made me want to forget the entire thing because it frustrated me.½

I've never been much of a tv watcher but even I have seen an episode or two of soap operas over the years. They aren't really my thing but I think what keeps people tuning in every day is the pace of the story, the complications, the constant drama, secrets and their shocking reveals, love, and of course, their outlandishness, all of which serve to take the viewer away from their quotidian life. Asha Lemmie's debut novel, Fifty Words for Rain, is the book version of a soap opera and it has garnered its share of supporters and detractors, just as the tv shows do. I have to admit though, that if I have no interest in tv soap operas, I am only marginally more interested in book soap operas.

Opening in 1948, eight year old Noriko, the illegitimate, mixed race daughter of a Japanese aristocratic mother and a black American GI, is left at the gate of her aristocratic grandparents' home by her mother. Jumping then to two years later, Nori is living in her grandparents' attic, her mother's shame made visible kept hidden and out of sight of everyone outside the family. She is given harsh chemical baths to try and lighten her skin and she has come to understand that her curly hair and complexion are terrible, something no Japanese person would ever value. She is treated badly by her grandmother when she deigns to see Nori and neglected when she doesn't. When her older half brother, Akira, who is her mother's legitimate son and the heir to her wealthy grandparents, comes to live in the house after the death of his father, Nori, for the first time, finds an ally. She is obsessed with her brother and he convinces their grandmother to grant Nori privileges that she has never before been allowed. But this sibling bond can't be allowed to stand and Nori is sold off to a brothel the family owns while her brother is away at school. This is not the last terrible thing that happens to Nori as she goes from trauma to trauma, often at the hands of her bigoted, evil family.

From the opening pages, Nori is an obedient child who faces every bad thing possible: abandonment, abuse--physical, emotional and sexual, isolation, racism, loss and more. Eventually the reader has to wonder just how many terrible things and tragedies must be thrown at Nori to show her resilience as a character. And given all of the soul destroying events in her life at the hands of her grandmother, it makes the end of the novel completely out of character and ridiculously unbelievable. But even from the beginning the novel is unbelievable. It starts with something that calls into question the accuracy of its entire portrayal of post-war Japan. Nori is supposed to be 8 in 1948. That would put her American GI father in Japan in either 1939 or 1940 in order for her to exist. Even a quick internet search suggests that this would have been well night impossible. But Nori needs to be half black and half Japanese in order for the story to work. Pure invented melodrama, especially when added to the litany of traumas she faces throughout her life. The novel does crack on at a decent clip making a close to 500 page book a quick read, so for those interested in a soap-like survival story or trauma porn, this might be the right book. Certainly a lot of other authors and readers have loved it in ways that I didn't.½

Kyoto, Japan,1948. “Donor question. Do not fight. Do not resist.” Such is eight-year-old Nori Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these 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 skin.
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her AfricanAmerican GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of the stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to upholdin a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Noriaccepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Amira, to the estate, that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond.½

This debut novel from Asha Lemmie really hit the mark.
“The first real memory Nori had was pulling up to that house.“
The story is compelling from the first sentence to the last.
A child born out of wedlock to a royal family in 1940’s Japan, an unknown stepbrother, a cruel grandmother, an evil grandfather, a touching friendship and so much more. If you are a sensitive reader, check your triggers first. Simply put this is a story of survival and hope. Even though many readers disliked the ending, I was satisfied and I think it made the story more realistic. Can't say more without spoilers. See what you think.

I picked up this novel because its subject sounded so interesting: the coming-of-age of a biracial girl in post-war Japan. Unfortunately, the book was a disappointment.

When Nori Kamiza is 8 years old, her mother abandons her to the care of her grandparents. What she receives is not tender loving care; she is kept hidden in the attic and given daily painful scrubs to lighten her skin and erase evidence of her African-American father. Then the arrival of her half-brother Akira brings positive change because he becomes Nori’s friend and makes efforts to make her life easier. However, Lady Yuko, Nori’s grandmother, has different plans for her granddaughter. As a cousin to the emperor, she values family honour above all else, and Nori’s illegitimacy and skin colour are a disgrace and a threat to their imperial status.

This book belongs to the genre known as misery porn because one misery follows another relentlessly. Nori experiences psychological and physical abuse, abandonment, loss, racism, and sexual exploitation – and that’s far from a complete list of calamities. The back-to-back, over-the-top tragedies are reminiscent of those found in melodramatic soap operas. What are intended to be surprises are not such if the reader is familiar with the plot lines of soap operas.

The relationship between Nori and Akira does not ring true. When he arrives to live with his grandparents, Akira is 15 years old. Nori’s interest in him is understandable because she has spent two years locked in an attic with virtually no outside contact, but would a teenage boy who has a full life take such interest in a half-sister who is five years younger? What also bothered me is that the relationship borders on the incestuous. Nori’s nanny even thinks that her charge “has set her heart on something she cannot have.”

Character development is weak. Nori lacks depth; she is defined by her obsession with Akira and her ability to endure. Yet all her adversity does not result in transformative growth. So often she resorts to childish tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants. The choices she makes at the end suggest that she is acting out of grief and guilt to fulfill her brother’s purpose: “I will rid [the Kamiza family] of fear and of hate, and fill it with humanity and love. I will . . . help the powerless . . . I will restore true honor.” But in the process, she’s really going to allow someone else to experience the misery she endured as a child, the misery she has spent her entire life struggling to overcome?! And this comes from a woman who totally forgot Miyuki and never tried to help her even when she was in a position to do so?

Having never lived in or visited Japan, I’m not certain how authentically the book reflects Japanese culture. I had the impression that the author inserted references to things that non-Japanese would think of when envisioning the country: geisha, sushi, wasabi and origami. Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions, so would a family so closely related to the emperor be Christian?

The writing style tends to be repetitive. Akira and Will are always smirking. Nori is always biting her lip so hard she can taste blood, retching, and digging her nails into her palms.

This emotionally manipulative melodrama did not appeal to me.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).½

The main character of this novel, Noriko, grows up in a very traditional Japanese aristocratic family - but she's a biracial bastard, and thus her life is far from rosy. I don't feel qualified to criticize much of what happened in this story since the Japanese way of life is unknown to me, but there are certain things that I just didn't like - Nori's almost incestuous attachment to her brother (to me) and the way that the ending was handled, which I thought was horrible. Still, it was kind of a fascinating glimpse into a culture that seems quite mysterious and frightening at times.

Japanese bastard girl is kept in an attic by her powerful grandmother because of her mother’s alliance with an American. She is then sent to a brothel. Other horrible things happen during the course of the book. I didn’t quite understand the ending.

This story of an outcast Japanese/Black woman is heartening and engaging. I'm not sold on the title and the peaks are a bit over the top at times, but I wanted to keep reading to find out what was next around the corner. There were a number of unexpected scenes that surprised me and have stayed with me over time. I would definitely recommend checking out this novel as many will find something to identify with or engage others in conversation about.

The story of Noriko “Nori” Kamiza, a part Japanese and part African American girl, started when she was eight years old in 1948. Her mother abandoned her at the estate of her grandparents, Lady Yuko and Lord Kohei Kamiza, in Kyoto. Lady Yuko, Obaasama to Nori, accepted her into the royal household but is clearly ashamed of her and abused her in various ways. First, she confined her to an attic for years. During this time, she instructed her maid, Akiko, to give Nori chemical baths in hopes that her skin could be lightened. The grandmother saw Nori infrequently, and when she did, she paddled her for no apparent reason. The grandfather ignored her as though he could wish away her existence.

It wasn’t until Nori’s half brother, Akira, came to live with Lady Yuko that Nori’s life changed slightly. Akira was a legitimate heir to the Kamiza fortune, and he was treated with kindness and nurtured to rule someday. He appealed to his grandmother to allow Nori to leave the attic for limited times and even get outside in the garden for fresh air. At first, Nori was just a nuisance to Akira, but in time he grew genuinely fond of her and protected his cherished sibling in many ways. Akira was an accomplished violinist and musician, and he began to teach Nori to play the violin and appreciate classical music. The music that they both learned to love becomes an important literary device in the novel. Music is involved when new characters were introduced and when the plot progressed. Music led Nori to significant life-changing relationships, and the musical selections she learned from her brother carry meaningful symbols throughout her life.

Each time it seems that her grandparents were gaining some appreciation for Nori’s humanity, the reader is reminded how much Lady Yuko despises her “bastard” granddaughter and preferred to see her dead. When Nori was eleven, they sold her to a brothel owned by the Kamizas to be groomed for eventual sale. Although this a disturbing element in the plot, Kiyomi, who runs the brothel, seemed to take a positive interest in protecting Nori and Nori actually made a friend there.

Without providing spoilers, Nori reunited with her brother, and two of his friends eventually played significant roles in her life that contributed to her gaining strength and independence. A great tragedy occurs just as things are looking better for Nori’s fate. Her resilience is challenged many times throughout the story, yet she remains kind, curious, reflective, and stalwart. She eventually learns more about her natural mother’s story and continues throughout her life to find solace by climbing trees. The tree pictured on the book's cover has layers of symbolism for this story—her family tree is an obvious element. With carefully crafted language, the tree also represented Nori's ability to escape, survive, and develop.

https://quipsandquotes.net/?p=234

So, first, to start with some of the stylistic type things. I thought the chose to have more than one perspective for telling the story was interesting. It felt like the author mainly switched from the initial perspective when it would give better insight into Nori - the main character. There were a lot of non-English words sprinkled throughout the book. However, because I studied Japanese in university, I understood 90% of them without having to look them up. So, I can't comment directly on how it would feel/read for people who don't know the language. Sometimes she would have the Japanese word and then follow it immediately by the English word. Sometimes it felt like people could pick up from context what it meant. But there were other times I'm not so sure the meaning was clear. Mostly though, I felt like at least half of the Japanese words she used didn't add anything by having them instead of the English word.

Next: characters. Most of the characters were rather complex. With a few exceptions, even characters that I wanted to like or hate, she gave reasons to be frustrated with them or feel empathy towards them. And the characters she just left as characters you want to hate, I felt readers will be able to understand the motivations behind them, either because she explains/reveals it or they are a type of person that actually exists and therefore you can imagine their reasons for why they do what they do. And for these characters in particular, it's understanding like: oh, now that I know you're racist it makes sense why you did that thing. You are still 100% again them, but you know what thinking is behind their actions.

As far as the story itself goes, it felt like the main point/reason/etc. for the book is to show how resilient and strong Nori is. And, it was nice to see this shown again and again throughout the book. And there was something that I was very upset about that happens in the book that felt like it was constructed just for that point... but, it turns out there was an actual reason for that to have happened. I really felt for Nori and in particular also grew to love Akira who is Nori's brother.

The ending of the book... when I initially finished reading the book I keep going back and forth as to whether I feel like it fit. But after getting to listen to a Q&A with the author, I do find myself better able to accept the ending, even if I still was not a huge fan of the choice made.

This is a heavy book, for sure. So, lastly, content warnings: rape, abuse of children, selling children's bodies, murder, attempted suicide and, I'm not sure how much this would fit content warning versus being aware of topics that do come up in the book: acceptance/rejection, some characters with very strong traditional views on a woman's role and beautify standards.

Definitely check in with yourself about what you are currently able to handle before picking up this book. But if you are in a place to deal with the heaviness of this book, I would recommend it.

Noriki Kamiza is a mixed race child born out of wedlock in Japan in 1940. As the story begins her mother abandons her at the home of her grandparents in Kyoto. Since her skin is darker and her hair is curly, she is hidden in an attic room and generally abused by her grandmother in an effort to get her to be submissive. She is subjected to painful chemical baths to lighten her skin and regularly beaten with a wooden ladle. Then her older half-brother, Akira, arrives after the death of his father. He was also abandoned by their mother when he was just over 4 years old. He is a prize-winning violinist, befriends Nori and teaches her to play the violin. She worships him as he tries to get her life to be more normal, but he is up against his grandmother and his abusive and violent grandfather.

Eight year old Nori is abandoned by her mother and placed with her grandparents. A child of mixed heritage, Nori is hidden in the attic and constantly belittled as a bastard. When her half brother Akira, moves to their grandparents, Nori is instantly fascinated and drawn to him. As soon as Akira is sent off to school, her grandparents sell her to a brothel.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The book switched between Nori's point of view, and the point of view of individuals surrounding Nori. The points of view of characters around Nori, did not seem to match how Nori was portrayed in her sections. The book didn't quite feel realistic and the characters were pretty stereotypical. I also found the ending to be disappointing. Overall, this book was a bust.

Nice read. Not sure it needed to be set in Japan.

[Fifty Words for Rain] by [[Asha Lemmie]]

My thoughts on this one are mixed. It opens in Kyoto, Japan in 1948. A cab pulls up to an elegant home that is almost a palace, and a little girl and her mother step out into the rain. Noriko is surprised to see her family name at the top of the gates, which are open. She is told that her grandmother lives there and that now, she will, too. Her mother's parting words: "Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist."

One of the first things Nori's grandmother tells her is that she is a bastard and her mother is a whore who disgraced their ancient family. Nori does not remember her father, a black American soldier who died when she was an infant. Although she is given some nice clothes, a minimal education, and a kind servant to look after her, Nori's life in the Kamizaki house is hell. She is not allowed off the top floor, is subjected to painful chemical baths in an effort to lighten her skin, and if she dares to question anything, her grandmother beats her with a large wooden spoon.

The only bright spot is when her half brother Akira, recently orphaned, arrives. As the family's only male heir, he has no fear of his grandmother, and he decides to take Nori under his wing. But because this book is unrelentingly miserable, you can expect that the happier days won't last for long, and they don't. Things get worse, then things get better for a while, then things get as bad as you can imagine. Years after Nori leaves Japan and seems finally to have a chance at happiness . . . well, you can imagine. Although blurbs will claim that this is a coming of age story with a focus on love and loss, the real theme seems to be that the sins of the mother shall be visited on the daughter, over and over and over again. Not exactly the upper I needed as we approach what I hope is the end of this horrific year.

Astounding!

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.)

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie is the type of book a lot of readers will enjoy--historical fiction with a moving plot, an interesting main character, some romance, some heartbreak, and more than passable writing. In post-WWII Japan, Noriko finds herself at the gates of her grandparent’s house, and her mother driving away forever. We watch from afar as her life takes many turns as she struggles to survive as an unwanted child in a traditional Japanese family. Lemmie’s debut novel falters at times with too much stilted dialogue, underdeveloped side characters, and the plot starts to fall apart towards the end, but she manages to evoke some real emotion that resonates. Readers who enjoy The Nightengale, Under a Scarlet Sky, and other historical fiction should definitely give this new writer a try.½

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