The descriptions of the natural setting were very detailed and often very
poetic but at times, personally, I felt like they were a bit too much, both in terms of quantity/length and in terms of overuse of similies (I get that similes are nice but enough is enough).

I think there were also too many of what I would call "explanation sections", basically sections that feel more like an infodump about a certain topic (for example gardening practices or the art of tattoos) and they do tend to stick out a bit too much and take you out of the narrative flow.

Also, sometimes I found the time jumps in the narrative a bit confusing and it took me a little bit to re-orient myself and place the episode within the story's timeline. 

I struggled a bit to connect with the main characters (by the way, I don't know if I find the romantic aspect of their relationship really well-developed on the page and convincing) and, at times, I was actually more drawn towards secondary characters (such as the storyline of Tatsuji).

The story was interesting enough for me to want to keep reading until the end but it didn't really captivate me completely. I think the section narrating the experience of the internment camp, though one of the most harrowing, was also the most moving and impactful.

I’m SO happy I’m back in a historical fiction mood! I’ve been mainly reading contemporary for over a month now, not being in the right headspace to situate myself in a different time period. But Tan Twan Eng made it so easy to get lost in the world he conjures up, 1940s and 1950s Malaysia, spanning the Second World War and Malayan Emergency.

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In the ‘present day’ storyline, Yun Ling is struggling to come to terms with her aphasia. She’s determined to set down her past before she’s unable, coming face to face with the trauma she endured as a prisoner of war during the Japanese Occupation of then Malaya. She also recounts the time after, apprenticed to a famous Japanese gardener in the countryside.

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This is a book for people who love to get swept away in the prose. The sentences are beautifully crafted, the author lingers over the descriptions of the jungle, tea estates and gardens. It’s incredibly evocative but I can also imagine it being tiresome for folk who like a little more action in their reads.

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Like with any good historical fiction, I learned a lot about the Occupation and the subsequent Emergency, as well as the arts of Japanese gardens and horimono. It’s difficult to read at times given the horrors Yun Ling and her sister suffered as prisoners of war, but I don’t think it descends into trauma porn. Tan Twan Eng approaches the topics sensitively, reminding us that we must learn from the past.

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My only complaint is I wasn’t convinced by the romance in it. However, it plays only a small part and the novel has so much more to offer besides that.

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Definitely will be picking up The Gift of Rain!