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The Teahouse Fire
“Like attending seasons of elegant tea parties—each one resplendent with character and drama. Delicious.”—Maxine Hong KingstonThe story of two women whose lives intersect in late-nineteenth-century Japan, The Teahouse Fire is also a portrait of one of the most fascinating places and times in all of history—Japan as it opens its doors to the West. It was a period when wearing a different color kimono could make a political statement, when women stopped blackening their teeth to profess an allegiance to Western ideas, and when Japan’s most mysterious rite—the tea ceremony—became not just a sacramental meal, but a ritual battlefield.We see it all through the eyes of Aurelia, an American orphan adopted by the Shin family, proprietors of a tea ceremony school, after their daughter, Yukako, finds her hiding on their grounds. Aurelia becomes Yukako’s closest companion, and they, the Shin family, and all of Japan face a time of great challenges and uncertainty. Told in an enchanting and unforgettable voice, The Teahouse Fire is a lively, provocative, and lushly detailed historical novel of epic scope and compulsive readability.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
164 people are currently reading
6296 people want to read
About the author
Ellis Avery
10 books107 followersThe only writer ever to have received the American Library Association Stonewall Award for Fiction twice, Ellis Avery is the author of two novels, a memoir, and a book of poetry. Her novels, The Last Nude (Riverhead 2012) and The Teahouse Fire (Riverhead 2006) have also received Lambda, Ohioana, and Golden Crown awards, and her work has been translated into six languages. She teaches fiction writing at Columbia University and out of her home in the West Village.
Raised in Columbus, Ohio and Princeton, New Jersey, Avery’s first love as a reader was the high fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula K. LeGuin. In her teenage years, she discovered writers like Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf, whose lush specificity tempted her back to the waking world.
Interested in the overlap between theater, anthropology, and religion, Avery pursued an independent major in Performance Studies at Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1993. She spent the next few years in San Francisco working for queer youth organizations and earning an MFA in Writing from Goddard College’s low residency program. Drawn back to the seasons and architecture of the East Coast, she settled in New York in 1997, where she met her partner of fifteen years, Sharon Marcus.
After personally witnessing the devastation of September 11th, 2001, and the anti-war response that swept the city in its wake, Avery wrote her first book, a personal account of the attacks and their aftermath entitled The Smoke Week. She spent five years studying Japanese language and tea ceremony, including seven months in Kyoto, in order to write her first novel, The Teahouse Fire. A lifelong love of Paris in the 1920s led Avery to write her second novel, The Last Nude, a love letter to Sylvia Beach, founder of Shakespeare and Company bookshop and publisher of Ulysses; to Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast; and to the sleek Art Deco imagery of Tamara de Lempicka.
Raised in Columbus, Ohio and Princeton, New Jersey, Avery’s first love as a reader was the high fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula K. LeGuin. In her teenage years, she discovered writers like Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf, whose lush specificity tempted her back to the waking world.
Interested in the overlap between theater, anthropology, and religion, Avery pursued an independent major in Performance Studies at Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1993. She spent the next few years in San Francisco working for queer youth organizations and earning an MFA in Writing from Goddard College’s low residency program. Drawn back to the seasons and architecture of the East Coast, she settled in New York in 1997, where she met her partner of fifteen years, Sharon Marcus.
After personally witnessing the devastation of September 11th, 2001, and the anti-war response that swept the city in its wake, Avery wrote her first book, a personal account of the attacks and their aftermath entitled The Smoke Week. She spent five years studying Japanese language and tea ceremony, including seven months in Kyoto, in order to write her first novel, The Teahouse Fire. A lifelong love of Paris in the 1920s led Avery to write her second novel, The Last Nude, a love letter to Sylvia Beach, founder of Shakespeare and Company bookshop and publisher of Ulysses; to Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast; and to the sleek Art Deco imagery of Tamara de Lempicka.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 518 reviews
July 25, 2015
Oh, I have no luck with my reads recently. This one is a strangely unpleasant book, whose sycophantic nature is symbolized by the main character's life story.
The character, a French/American girl named Aurelie, wants the readers to believe that she's had a miserable childhood. Born in 1857, she's never known her father, and her mother was taken in by her priest brother (Aurelie's uncle), and placed in a New York school run by nuns, as a servant. The mother despises the nuns and laughs at her brother's airs and graces. Then the uncle gets assigned to a mission in Kyoto and takes nine-year-old Aurelie with him, having made her learn Japanese from books (it's 1866, mind). Meanwhile the mother dies of tuberculosis, and when Aurelie lands in Japan, she is unpleasantly surprised by the priests' contempt for Japan, and then by her uncle's clearly pedophiliac tendencies. Ah, how nasty!
But wait, it's not going to be that bad, is it? After all, it's Japan, the land of dreams. So Aurelie goes to the nearby shrine and prays for another life. Of course she gets it. That very night a fire destroys the mission and Aurelie runs away, only to be taken in by a gentle and rich family whose members have been teaching tea ceremony for generations. She becomes their servant and gets to wear nice kimonos and to work around the teahouse in the garden, observe the lessons and so forth, as the family is convinced that she is really Japanese, only a bit soft in the head (she can speak Japanese a bit, because of the books, and because she had a great communication with a Japanese cook on the ship on the way to Japan). Aw, how sweet!
Everything goes smoothly to the moment when the Meiji Restoration happens. Old traditions (good) are violated, new ways (bad) gain an upper hand, tea ceremony is out of fashion (sniff sniff), crass and ugly foreigners start to interfere and destroy the local culture... the people in the neighborhood start to whisper that Urako (Aurelie) is really one of them foreign devils, and therefore unclean... Ah, how horrible!
Now, I can get over the relative implausibility of the premise; it's pretty well done, and much stranger things happen to people, and this is a novel. What I can't get over, though, is the fact that the book idolizes Japanese culture and vilifies everything else, at the expense of psychological and historical truth, and even to the point of doing harm to the very Japanese culture which it seeks to eulogize - because it describes it as vicious and dishonest.
The Japanese are supposed to be refined and sophisticated, but come off as two-faced, as well as mean, brutal and simply stupid. (A father beating his daughter's face so as to draw blood, and then announcing that she is to be introduced to her fiance in a few hours is an example.) They smile into the face of a guest/foreigner/stranger and badmouth them and ridicule them as soon as they turn their backs. The foreigners are of course stupid, mean and ugly, there is no doubt about it, they can't understand Japan, nor can they learn the language - oh, of course except the heroine Urako aka Aurelie. She is quite intelligent, pretty actually, and she doesn't consider herself a foreigner, how could she? Foreigners are abominable. Especially, y'know, women. Maybe the author, who is fascinated by Japan and the Japanese tea ceremony which she teaches, regrets the unfortunate fact that she's not Japanese herself. This is understandable. But the overwhelming attitude of the book is that everything non-Japanese is inferior and disgusting, if not outright hateful.
To be honest, I've had enough of historical books which describe Japanese culture as being invaded and violated by Western civilization, because it more often than not distorts the picture. This book by trying to be more Catholic than the pope and more Japanese than the Japanese themselves, shows the Meiji Restoration as an oppressive, damaging power, something akin to the Maoist Cultural Revolution, and misses the mark completely. It ignores the spirit of the times: the surge of enthusiasm, the enormous passion for education, the fascination by all things Western, the pride felt by the Japanese people when they saw how fast their country was being modernized and how it gained recognition and respect in the eyes of other nations. True, there was a reaction against the new ways circa 1887-1895, when people briefly tried to return to old fashions and rejected all things foreign, but in "The Teahouse Fire" (which covers almost 40 years) everyone is, all the time, firmly against the Restoration, the modernization, and foreigners. Not one word is spoken in favor of the reforms. There is nothing but disapproval for the new. The book just exploits The Big Fat Fetish Of The Traditional Japanese Culture, without offering a real insight.
Which would be forgivable if the plot had a bit more momentum, and characters some depth, but no - the pace was slow, the story not very interesting after the initial oomph, and nearly all the characters one-dimensional. And I would like the lesbian subplots and overtones more, if the heroine wasn't so unsympathetic, hypocritical and boring.
As to the details, I guess they were accurate when it came to the tea ceremony, and there were many incidents thrown in which show high quality research on the author's part (balls in the Rokumeikan Palace, the public outrage at the drowning of the Japanese crew when the foreigners were rescued), but there were also things like people wearing black in mourning (not done at the time), sushi as a delicacy (it was just fast food), fish as everyday food (it was rare), or a wife of a rickshaw puller as a main force in the neighborhood and the heroine's nemesis (rickshaw pullers were extremely poor and would not live near the Shin residence, and their family would be even less likely to be able to afford the same bathhouse as the servants). The last one in particular was forced, as if the author decided that she couldn't do without a villain, but it goes to show that the interactions between different social classes were a bit off.
Also, "The Pillow Book" by Sei Shonagon is not a novel, it's more like a collection of essays, and the heroine kept referring to Sei Shonagon simply as "Shonagon", which is annoying, because it makes it sound like a name. It isn't. It's a government post belonging probably to her close relative, and while it might have been her nickname, now she is referred to as "Sei" or "Sei Shonagon" in Japanese.
Oh well. These things would be less jarring if the story itself wasn't so false and pompous.
The character, a French/American girl named Aurelie, wants the readers to believe that she's had a miserable childhood. Born in 1857, she's never known her father, and her mother was taken in by her priest brother (Aurelie's uncle), and placed in a New York school run by nuns, as a servant. The mother despises the nuns and laughs at her brother's airs and graces. Then the uncle gets assigned to a mission in Kyoto and takes nine-year-old Aurelie with him, having made her learn Japanese from books (it's 1866, mind). Meanwhile the mother dies of tuberculosis, and when Aurelie lands in Japan, she is unpleasantly surprised by the priests' contempt for Japan, and then by her uncle's clearly pedophiliac tendencies. Ah, how nasty!
But wait, it's not going to be that bad, is it? After all, it's Japan, the land of dreams. So Aurelie goes to the nearby shrine and prays for another life. Of course she gets it. That very night a fire destroys the mission and Aurelie runs away, only to be taken in by a gentle and rich family whose members have been teaching tea ceremony for generations. She becomes their servant and gets to wear nice kimonos and to work around the teahouse in the garden, observe the lessons and so forth, as the family is convinced that she is really Japanese, only a bit soft in the head (she can speak Japanese a bit, because of the books, and because she had a great communication with a Japanese cook on the ship on the way to Japan). Aw, how sweet!
Everything goes smoothly to the moment when the Meiji Restoration happens. Old traditions (good) are violated, new ways (bad) gain an upper hand, tea ceremony is out of fashion (sniff sniff), crass and ugly foreigners start to interfere and destroy the local culture... the people in the neighborhood start to whisper that Urako (Aurelie) is really one of them foreign devils, and therefore unclean... Ah, how horrible!
Now, I can get over the relative implausibility of the premise; it's pretty well done, and much stranger things happen to people, and this is a novel. What I can't get over, though, is the fact that the book idolizes Japanese culture and vilifies everything else, at the expense of psychological and historical truth, and even to the point of doing harm to the very Japanese culture which it seeks to eulogize - because it describes it as vicious and dishonest.
The Japanese are supposed to be refined and sophisticated, but come off as two-faced, as well as mean, brutal and simply stupid. (A father beating his daughter's face so as to draw blood, and then announcing that she is to be introduced to her fiance in a few hours is an example.) They smile into the face of a guest/foreigner/stranger and badmouth them and ridicule them as soon as they turn their backs. The foreigners are of course stupid, mean and ugly, there is no doubt about it, they can't understand Japan, nor can they learn the language - oh, of course except the heroine Urako aka Aurelie. She is quite intelligent, pretty actually, and she doesn't consider herself a foreigner, how could she? Foreigners are abominable. Especially, y'know, women. Maybe the author, who is fascinated by Japan and the Japanese tea ceremony which she teaches, regrets the unfortunate fact that she's not Japanese herself. This is understandable. But the overwhelming attitude of the book is that everything non-Japanese is inferior and disgusting, if not outright hateful.
To be honest, I've had enough of historical books which describe Japanese culture as being invaded and violated by Western civilization, because it more often than not distorts the picture. This book by trying to be more Catholic than the pope and more Japanese than the Japanese themselves, shows the Meiji Restoration as an oppressive, damaging power, something akin to the Maoist Cultural Revolution, and misses the mark completely. It ignores the spirit of the times: the surge of enthusiasm, the enormous passion for education, the fascination by all things Western, the pride felt by the Japanese people when they saw how fast their country was being modernized and how it gained recognition and respect in the eyes of other nations. True, there was a reaction against the new ways circa 1887-1895, when people briefly tried to return to old fashions and rejected all things foreign, but in "The Teahouse Fire" (which covers almost 40 years) everyone is, all the time, firmly against the Restoration, the modernization, and foreigners. Not one word is spoken in favor of the reforms. There is nothing but disapproval for the new. The book just exploits The Big Fat Fetish Of The Traditional Japanese Culture, without offering a real insight.
Which would be forgivable if the plot had a bit more momentum, and characters some depth, but no - the pace was slow, the story not very interesting after the initial oomph, and nearly all the characters one-dimensional. And I would like the lesbian subplots and overtones more, if the heroine wasn't so unsympathetic, hypocritical and boring.
As to the details, I guess they were accurate when it came to the tea ceremony, and there were many incidents thrown in which show high quality research on the author's part (balls in the Rokumeikan Palace, the public outrage at the drowning of the Japanese crew when the foreigners were rescued), but there were also things like people wearing black in mourning (not done at the time), sushi as a delicacy (it was just fast food), fish as everyday food (it was rare), or a wife of a rickshaw puller as a main force in the neighborhood and the heroine's nemesis (rickshaw pullers were extremely poor and would not live near the Shin residence, and their family would be even less likely to be able to afford the same bathhouse as the servants). The last one in particular was forced, as if the author decided that she couldn't do without a villain, but it goes to show that the interactions between different social classes were a bit off.
Also, "The Pillow Book" by Sei Shonagon is not a novel, it's more like a collection of essays, and the heroine kept referring to Sei Shonagon simply as "Shonagon", which is annoying, because it makes it sound like a name. It isn't. It's a government post belonging probably to her close relative, and while it might have been her nickname, now she is referred to as "Sei" or "Sei Shonagon" in Japanese.
Oh well. These things would be less jarring if the story itself wasn't so false and pompous.
January 3, 2008
This novel -- about Japanese tea ceremony -- was full of promise as a light, quick plane read, but man, did it not deliver. Two weeks later I was still mired in it. I think it needed a good editor to trim it down by about 100 pages. It was way too long and covered, in my opinion, way too much time. I'd definitely give it an "A" for research and historical details, but the grades go down when it comes to plot, character development and plausibility.
July 6, 2011
A lushly written story. Reading reviews of people saying this book was "about Japanese tea ceremony" makes me scratch my head in wonder at what they must miss on a daily basis. The changing tea ceremony - a truly unique art form - is symbolic of the westernization of Japan as it approached the turn of the 19th century. An ancient and civilized society losing ground against the encroaching west is the larger story. The smaller stories are all beautifully drawn, the tale of the little Parisienne who finds herself swept off to Japan and then alone once there is poignant as she becomes both a sort of family member and a servant to that family...the sexual stories of love and lust and incest...the financial fortunes and economics...the decline of the Japanese shogun class...all of it is quite fascinating. That said, there was one portion about 2/3 of the way in that seemed to get in the way and drag on, I kept waiting to get back to the tale. The rest was not a fast-paced read, nor was it intended to be, but worth the time for the beauty of the writing and the depth and accuracy of the history.
March 27, 2017
Here's a funny story about this book: it is long, and I am a slow reader. I had checked it out of the library, and when the due date approached, renewed it online. I do this a lot, but with this book, it happened three times.
And that’s how I learned that after three checkouts, the library requires you to return a book to let other people have a chance. I thought of defying this rule and refusing to return it, but in the end, I am a good library citizen. So I returned the book unfinished.
“Let me buy you a copy,” my wife pleaded after tolerating my obsessive chatter about how I’d placed a hold, could check it out again in two weeks, how the library had only one copy, how I couldn't wait to read the ending, and on and on.
Usually, I encourage gifts and book buying, but something had come over me. Determined to get the book back from the library and finish it, I refused to let my wife buy a copy for me. I blame the main character’s austere life. How can I go out and spend money on books when she has no possessions at all?
Let me reiterate here that The Teahouse Fire is not a slow read. On the contrary, this is the kind of book you can taste and smell while you read: the matcha, the exquisite cookies, the fire, the incense, the water. Such precise and sensual descriptions and such a humble narrator made the whole thing so easy for me to love, I found myself lingering over it.
In fact, I fell in love with the central character. Avery pairs her quiet disposition with a rich and engaging interior life, so that I felt privileged by the up-close point-of-view, like she had become my secret best friend. And the ending, when I did finally get to read it, was deeply satisfying. I can’t wait to read The Last Nude, and for the record, I went ahead and purchased it.
And that’s how I learned that after three checkouts, the library requires you to return a book to let other people have a chance. I thought of defying this rule and refusing to return it, but in the end, I am a good library citizen. So I returned the book unfinished.
“Let me buy you a copy,” my wife pleaded after tolerating my obsessive chatter about how I’d placed a hold, could check it out again in two weeks, how the library had only one copy, how I couldn't wait to read the ending, and on and on.
Usually, I encourage gifts and book buying, but something had come over me. Determined to get the book back from the library and finish it, I refused to let my wife buy a copy for me. I blame the main character’s austere life. How can I go out and spend money on books when she has no possessions at all?
Let me reiterate here that The Teahouse Fire is not a slow read. On the contrary, this is the kind of book you can taste and smell while you read: the matcha, the exquisite cookies, the fire, the incense, the water. Such precise and sensual descriptions and such a humble narrator made the whole thing so easy for me to love, I found myself lingering over it.
In fact, I fell in love with the central character. Avery pairs her quiet disposition with a rich and engaging interior life, so that I felt privileged by the up-close point-of-view, like she had become my secret best friend. And the ending, when I did finally get to read it, was deeply satisfying. I can’t wait to read The Last Nude, and for the record, I went ahead and purchased it.
January 12, 2009
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and find the complaints about it silly. Yes it is long and detailed. But that was the beauty of it. Until the 1850's, Japan was a closed society and few foreigners were allowed to enter. When Aurelia is found by the Shin family, they can't even identify her and don't know how to classify her. So they make her a maid and sometimes treat her as a member of the family.
Many years ago, I went to an exhibit of Yokohama wood-block prints from that era. Foreigners were drawn with big noses and strange outfits, snow was painted green and animals were often unidentifiable.
I thought Ellis Avery did an amazing job telling the story from multiple points of view as the family tried to deal with a changing world. In about 100 years, Japan changed from a rigid, insular nation to one of the most progressive in the world. It is a story that needs to be told and I think Avery did an admirable job of it.
Many years ago, I went to an exhibit of Yokohama wood-block prints from that era. Foreigners were drawn with big noses and strange outfits, snow was painted green and animals were often unidentifiable.
I thought Ellis Avery did an amazing job telling the story from multiple points of view as the family tried to deal with a changing world. In about 100 years, Japan changed from a rigid, insular nation to one of the most progressive in the world. It is a story that needs to be told and I think Avery did an admirable job of it.
December 4, 2022
"It's easy to be a warrior if there's no war,' she said softly."
Overall, it was enjoyable. But extremely and, sometimes, unnecessarily detailed.
Overall, it was enjoyable. But extremely and, sometimes, unnecessarily detailed.
February 10, 2013
What I can say after such a blurb? Well, let's see...It's wonderful novel, the story is beautiful and compelling, the history is interesting and thought provoking, and I have incredible desire to learn more about a culture and nation that never really interested me much before. It's not my first time reading a novel set in Japan, I read Memoirs of a Geisha, but this book really brings the culture to light in my opinion. It makes me want to learn more and to experience the tea ceremonies.
I loved experiencing Aurelia/Urako's growth and discoveries. I felt that her confusion and her need to be accepted as more than a servant to be utterly understandable and painful as well. I'm glad I had tissues handy while I was reading this book, I used them often.
Although the story was wonderful with all the little twists and turns, I find that the true star was the setting. Japan in the midst of Westernization was a time confusion and of radical ideas, and the author brought out those emotions beautifully.
I loved experiencing Aurelia/Urako's growth and discoveries. I felt that her confusion and her need to be accepted as more than a servant to be utterly understandable and painful as well. I'm glad I had tissues handy while I was reading this book, I used them often.
Although the story was wonderful with all the little twists and turns, I find that the true star was the setting. Japan in the midst of Westernization was a time confusion and of radical ideas, and the author brought out those emotions beautifully.
February 15, 2009
A lush and surprising look inside the world of a Japanese tea house at a time when the West was inching it's way into Japan, The Teahouse Fire is rich in historical notes but burns brightly with a story that will keep you engaged. As the main character begins to unravel the mysteries of the Japanese language around her, so too she begins to see into a world that very few outsiders ever experience.
The difficult part for some may be keeping track of all of the Japanese names and their own stories surrounding the central plot lines. There is a healthy dose of historical context laid down throughout the book that in many cases is the key to understanding the action at hand. Naturally, the tea ceremony holds a central place and theme, but kimono choice and usage, the caste layers at hand in Kyoto, and abundant references to the subtle intricacies of the Japanese language color the world of The Teahouse Fire with seasonal abundance.
If you are the kind of reader that enjoys slowly winding a rich story around you like a warm blanket on a cool evening, The Teahouse Fire is exactly your bowl of tea. If, on the other hand, you are the kind who prefers a fast-paced light read, perhaps a bowl of bubuzuke is in order.
The difficult part for some may be keeping track of all of the Japanese names and their own stories surrounding the central plot lines. There is a healthy dose of historical context laid down throughout the book that in many cases is the key to understanding the action at hand. Naturally, the tea ceremony holds a central place and theme, but kimono choice and usage, the caste layers at hand in Kyoto, and abundant references to the subtle intricacies of the Japanese language color the world of The Teahouse Fire with seasonal abundance.
If you are the kind of reader that enjoys slowly winding a rich story around you like a warm blanket on a cool evening, The Teahouse Fire is exactly your bowl of tea. If, on the other hand, you are the kind who prefers a fast-paced light read, perhaps a bowl of bubuzuke is in order.
July 30, 2016
I totally agree with Maxine Hong Kingston. "Delicious" is the only way to describe this book. The writing is elegant, the main character's voice is so believable (even though she is in an unbelievable situation), and the attention to detail regarding language, clothing, and food is stunning.
Memoirs of a Geisha and Tales of Murasaki, of course, are the pearls of this genre, but The Teahouse Fire offers a wonderful look at lives centered around the tea ceremony. The life is seen from a variety of perspectives, including the devastation to traditional Japanese families caused by the Meiji Restoration.
The author's knowledge of her subject is impressive, her writing just superb, and the character development is mouth watering. If you enjoy reading a "Western" writer's attempt to introduce a foreign culture so strange to Americans and other Westerners, this is an enjoyable read.
Memoirs of a Geisha and Tales of Murasaki, of course, are the pearls of this genre, but The Teahouse Fire offers a wonderful look at lives centered around the tea ceremony. The life is seen from a variety of perspectives, including the devastation to traditional Japanese families caused by the Meiji Restoration.
The author's knowledge of her subject is impressive, her writing just superb, and the character development is mouth watering. If you enjoy reading a "Western" writer's attempt to introduce a foreign culture so strange to Americans and other Westerners, this is an enjoyable read.
October 2, 2019
1866, Aurelia Bernard, French American 10 years old, comes to Japan with her uncle, who is a missionary.
Upon arrival, she learns about five castes: “warriors, or samurai, at the top, then farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and the unclean. They all have to follow the caste laws about every little thing: what kind of clothing you can wear, what kind of roof you can put on your house.”
First she was orphaned by her mother, now by her uncle.
She finds herself at a teahouse Baishian of the Shin family who “had been teaching tea ceremony to the most powerful men in Japan for three hundred years.”
As soon as she arrives at the teahouse, the story becomes very descriptive, making it stagnant, hardly moving forward.
Upon arrival, she learns about five castes: “warriors, or samurai, at the top, then farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and the unclean. They all have to follow the caste laws about every little thing: what kind of clothing you can wear, what kind of roof you can put on your house.”
First she was orphaned by her mother, now by her uncle.
She finds herself at a teahouse Baishian of the Shin family who “had been teaching tea ceremony to the most powerful men in Japan for three hundred years.”
As soon as she arrives at the teahouse, the story becomes very descriptive, making it stagnant, hardly moving forward.
January 24, 2010
What an amazingly beautiful book. I spent many a night with eyes burning and asking me to shut them, but I just could not put this book down. I read it over a few days this cold winter wrapped in my favorite quilt, sipping my favorite tea transported to Japan and the lovely world of temae. A wonderful addition and awesome treat to this read was visiting a lovely, serene tea house in Oakland and learning about the ceremony from none other than Yoshi of Yoshi's Restaurant and Jazz Club.
Favorite quotes: "She was most my mother at the edges of the day..."p.2
"...she had uncoiled the lonely weight of her brother's loss into a rope that two could hold." p. 51
"...his temae quiet as spilt water spreading on a wood floor...How beautiful, to see something done simply and well." p.101
"...I felt while performing temae something of the solemnity and grace that I felt watching it. I felt the austere precision of the choreography, and my voluptuous surrender to it. I felt the desire to give something precious, this bowl of tea." p. 127
"The box was full of books....They smelled, oh God, like books." p.193
"I wish I could remember the last thing he said to me." p.240
"In Chado, the Japanese Rite of Tea, you are invited to spend time with ONE flower, ONE painting. To touch and taste from ONE piece of sculpture, to sample a FEW delicacies, to watch the balletic movement of ONE trained artist. You are free to converse, or you are free to contemplate in silence. Is this not a restful and salutary activity?" p. 273
"Reading Shonogon, the squalid narrowness of my days with needle and wiping-rag expanded into gossamer nights in Baishan.A clay cup.A rush mat.I savored those hours, reading alone in the exquisite two-mat house, the lamplight flaring on the basket-woven ceiling, the room as given over to beauty as Shonagon's lines." p. 383
"I read to...slip into a cooler, petaled world. " p. 393
Favorite quotes: "She was most my mother at the edges of the day..."p.2
"...she had uncoiled the lonely weight of her brother's loss into a rope that two could hold." p. 51
"...his temae quiet as spilt water spreading on a wood floor...How beautiful, to see something done simply and well." p.101
"...I felt while performing temae something of the solemnity and grace that I felt watching it. I felt the austere precision of the choreography, and my voluptuous surrender to it. I felt the desire to give something precious, this bowl of tea." p. 127
"The box was full of books....They smelled, oh God, like books." p.193
"I wish I could remember the last thing he said to me." p.240
"In Chado, the Japanese Rite of Tea, you are invited to spend time with ONE flower, ONE painting. To touch and taste from ONE piece of sculpture, to sample a FEW delicacies, to watch the balletic movement of ONE trained artist. You are free to converse, or you are free to contemplate in silence. Is this not a restful and salutary activity?" p. 273
"Reading Shonogon, the squalid narrowness of my days with needle and wiping-rag expanded into gossamer nights in Baishan.A clay cup.A rush mat.I savored those hours, reading alone in the exquisite two-mat house, the lamplight flaring on the basket-woven ceiling, the room as given over to beauty as Shonagon's lines." p. 383
"I read to...slip into a cooler, petaled world. " p. 393
April 21, 2022
A highly informative novel of life in quickly changing Meiji era Japan, filled with hurt, longing, and freedom. Each character, in their troubles and unrequited desires, are bursting with meaning and emotion. A winding saga of pain, struggle, identity crisis, and finally happiness and understanding.
June 10, 2015
Nine year old Aurelia Corneille has had a hard life. She is the daughter of an unmarried Frenchwoman who immigrated to America to be close to her brother, a catholic priest in New York city, after she has been disowned by her mother for shaming her family. She has grown up living on the charity of the nuns in the convent at the church her uncle Charles ministers at.
When her uncle is given a posting to go to Japan as a missionary in 1866 he plans on taking Aurelia and her mother with him to help as servants. Given Aurelia's gift for languages (she speaks English and French) he hopes she will learn the tricky Japanese tongue quicker than the brothers of the mission party and help comunicate with the "heathen Japanese" when her mother is unable to go with due to failing health, Aurelia and her uncle engage on their journey across the world.
In 1866, Japan was still closed to foreigners. The missionaries are smuggled into Miyako the old Imperial Capital of Japan (now known as Kyoto). Unhappy with her new life with her uncle, Aurelia flees a fire in the building she and her uncle are living in. She runs far into the unknown city. Fatigued, she stumbles into one of the small tea houses owned by the Shin family as a part of their tea ceremony school. She is discovered by Yukako, the Shin family's daughter, and is adopted into the family as servant to Yukako.
The Teahouse Fire follows Aurelia as she becomes "Miss Urako". The book takes place during the fall of the samurai culture and the opening of Japan to outsiders. Urako, servant to the household that she is, becomes a "little sister" to Yukako her closest companion. She sees the struggle Yukako goes through as a female in a male dominated world. The book chronicles the tumultuous changes that Japan goes through as it enters a period of enlightenment and progress. The story spans twenty-five years of Aurelia's life in Japan after her fate has been changed by tragedy.
I loved the first lines of this book:
"When I was nine, in the city now called Kyoto, I changed my fate. I walked into the shrine through the red arch and struck the bell. I bowed Twice. I clapped twice. I whispered to the foriegn goddess and bowed again. And then I heard the shouts and the fire. Wha had I asked for? Any life but this one. "
with that I was pulled into historic Japan, and had a hard time pulling myself out to take care of classwork. I found the book engaging and interesting as the changes to Japan are shown through the eyes of someone living them. Aurelia struggles with not being completely Japanese through most of her life, to find herself known as a foreigner and pushed away from her home in Japan due to rising nationalism brought about because of the influx of foreign influences to the country.
When her uncle is given a posting to go to Japan as a missionary in 1866 he plans on taking Aurelia and her mother with him to help as servants. Given Aurelia's gift for languages (she speaks English and French) he hopes she will learn the tricky Japanese tongue quicker than the brothers of the mission party and help comunicate with the "heathen Japanese" when her mother is unable to go with due to failing health, Aurelia and her uncle engage on their journey across the world.
In 1866, Japan was still closed to foreigners. The missionaries are smuggled into Miyako the old Imperial Capital of Japan (now known as Kyoto). Unhappy with her new life with her uncle, Aurelia flees a fire in the building she and her uncle are living in. She runs far into the unknown city. Fatigued, she stumbles into one of the small tea houses owned by the Shin family as a part of their tea ceremony school. She is discovered by Yukako, the Shin family's daughter, and is adopted into the family as servant to Yukako.
The Teahouse Fire follows Aurelia as she becomes "Miss Urako". The book takes place during the fall of the samurai culture and the opening of Japan to outsiders. Urako, servant to the household that she is, becomes a "little sister" to Yukako her closest companion. She sees the struggle Yukako goes through as a female in a male dominated world. The book chronicles the tumultuous changes that Japan goes through as it enters a period of enlightenment and progress. The story spans twenty-five years of Aurelia's life in Japan after her fate has been changed by tragedy.
I loved the first lines of this book:
"When I was nine, in the city now called Kyoto, I changed my fate. I walked into the shrine through the red arch and struck the bell. I bowed Twice. I clapped twice. I whispered to the foriegn goddess and bowed again. And then I heard the shouts and the fire. Wha had I asked for? Any life but this one. "
with that I was pulled into historic Japan, and had a hard time pulling myself out to take care of classwork. I found the book engaging and interesting as the changes to Japan are shown through the eyes of someone living them. Aurelia struggles with not being completely Japanese through most of her life, to find herself known as a foreigner and pushed away from her home in Japan due to rising nationalism brought about because of the influx of foreign influences to the country.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2008
Okay, so I am having a really hard time with this book. It's very well written, and you can tell that the author really put a lot of effort into researching this book. The detail is amazing!
However, the story is not drawing me in and I am find it boring over all. Which is a shame, because I thought it had a lot of potential to be a great read.
There seems to be more fact than story, and that would ordinarily be fine, except for the fact that I picked it up to read fiction and fall in love with a story.
The characters aren't engrossing and I can barely keep track of who is who because the writing is kind of confusing. I think I might end up putting this one down, but maybe I'll go back to it later.
I give it 2 stars because it is well written and the author did so much research and because the story sounds interesting. It's just too bad I couldn't get through it. Oh well, I guess it happens.
However, the story is not drawing me in and I am find it boring over all. Which is a shame, because I thought it had a lot of potential to be a great read.
There seems to be more fact than story, and that would ordinarily be fine, except for the fact that I picked it up to read fiction and fall in love with a story.
The characters aren't engrossing and I can barely keep track of who is who because the writing is kind of confusing. I think I might end up putting this one down, but maybe I'll go back to it later.
I give it 2 stars because it is well written and the author did so much research and because the story sounds interesting. It's just too bad I couldn't get through it. Oh well, I guess it happens.
September 3, 2010
Elegantly crafted, The Teahouse Fire is a fiction set in late 19th century Japan. The protagonist Aurelia, a French young girl who lived in New York, was brought to Japan by her uncle. Following the death of her mother and the escapse from her abusive uncle, she finds herself taking refuge with a family who specialises in Japanese tea ceremonies, temae. She grows up as a servant in the household, and learns the art of tea from her mistress, Yukako. Yet at the turn of the century when foreign influences inundated Japan, she was yet again placed in a helpless position as she was ostracised by the Japanese as an unclean gaijin. Throughout the book we see her struggling to learn and to be accepted.
I didn’t know that this book can be classified as lesbian fiction when I first picked it up. To me it was more Orient and Historical, like Memoirs of the Geisha and Shogun. I was a little pleasantly surprised when I got to the part of the story where Aurelia discovers her love for a girl named Inko. Frankly, I was confused at first and did a second take to make sure I read it right; I didn’t expect it from the book synopsis. Her love, throughout the book, is bittersweet. I shall not give out spoilers here, but the book had a good ending. I really liked the ending; it’s light, sweet and positive. Nothing too spectacular; it’s simply down-to-earth like watching a sunset.
I didn’t know that this book can be classified as lesbian fiction when I first picked it up. To me it was more Orient and Historical, like Memoirs of the Geisha and Shogun. I was a little pleasantly surprised when I got to the part of the story where Aurelia discovers her love for a girl named Inko. Frankly, I was confused at first and did a second take to make sure I read it right; I didn’t expect it from the book synopsis. Her love, throughout the book, is bittersweet. I shall not give out spoilers here, but the book had a good ending. I really liked the ending; it’s light, sweet and positive. Nothing too spectacular; it’s simply down-to-earth like watching a sunset.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2019
The Teahouse Fire is a historical novel that takes place mostly in Japan and it highlights the dramatic transition in Japan during the Meiji Restoration as the country was willingly and unwillingly subjected to Western influence. The story is shown through the eyes of French American Aurelia/Urako who becomes a servant in the household of a Japanese tea master in the mid-1800s.
The way the author gets Aurelia/Urako to Japan was incredibly convoluted. In fact, there was a lot about the plot that strained credulity. But that aside, I felt the book was overstuffed with tidbits of what the author knew/had learned about Japan and Japanese culture and language, which is considerable. It was certainly interesting to learn about but it cluttered the narrative. On the other hand, I did learn a lot and googled quite a bit while reading, which is something I always appreciated about historical fiction.
The way the author gets Aurelia/Urako to Japan was incredibly convoluted. In fact, there was a lot about the plot that strained credulity. But that aside, I felt the book was overstuffed with tidbits of what the author knew/had learned about Japan and Japanese culture and language, which is considerable. It was certainly interesting to learn about but it cluttered the narrative. On the other hand, I did learn a lot and googled quite a bit while reading, which is something I always appreciated about historical fiction.
February 10, 2009
Reading this book was like a secret peek into late 19th/early 20th century Japan. It was very unique because it was told from the perspective of a foreigner who knew little more than Japan, since she went there as such a young child. Orphaned and wandering, she was adopted, in part, by a Japanese family. This book was humbling and sometimes embarassing to read as a Westerner. It was interesting, also, to think about prejudices different people who live in the same society have against each other.
This was one of the most interesting books I've read. If you're looking for a thought-provoking, but mind-relaxing read, I would recommend it to you.
This was one of the most interesting books I've read. If you're looking for a thought-provoking, but mind-relaxing read, I would recommend it to you.
March 23, 2010
I rarely don't finish a book. I really, really tried with this one, too. I gave it about 200 pages before I finally just had to give up. It was just so boring. I think the author really, really wanted to write a story about the Japanese tea ceremony and just had to throw together some story to wrap around it. The premise sounded interesting, but this book absolutely does not deliver. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but after all that I read, I found that I really just didn't care at all about the characters or what happened to them. Just not worth it.
November 4, 2008
I spent hours in the teahouse culture of Japan, and with its characters, while reading this book.
April 23, 2022
The book is mostly set in Meiji era Japan (second half of 19th century) and follows Aurelie, a nine year old French-American girl who travels with her pastor uncle to Kyoto. The country had only recently opened up to the West, and there are a lot of cultural and political changes. The same evening of her arrival, there is a fire and Aurelie runs away, hides in the Shin family's garden. Yukako, the family's 16 year old daughter, takes her in as her maid and renames her as Urako.
The Shins are a wealthy family who have been teaching temae, tea ceremony, for centuries. It is a highly sophisticated ritual, and very symbolic where even the colour of the kimono or the wall scroll used can make a big political statement.
The book follows Yukako and Urako's life through their teenage years, Yukako's marriage and children and how she takes over the family business, while Urako is always faithfully by her side. Although the setting and subject sounded interesting, I mostly chose this book because it was in the lgbt list of my library. Urako has a sapphic experience with a fellow maid, whom she remains fond of even decades later. However, the love of her life is Yukako, who never reciprocates her more intimate gestures.
You can tell the author has done a TON of research; I read that she had even studied the tea ceremony for several years. Buuuut I think all those details that made it so authentic also made the text incredibly heavy, so it took me about 5 weeks to read it. Nevertheless it was a very interesting look at the era and the complex tea ceremony, as well as the complicated familial relationships!
Rep: Japanese cast and setting, French-American-Japanese sapphic main character, sapphic Japanese side character
The Shins are a wealthy family who have been teaching temae, tea ceremony, for centuries. It is a highly sophisticated ritual, and very symbolic where even the colour of the kimono or the wall scroll used can make a big political statement.
The book follows Yukako and Urako's life through their teenage years, Yukako's marriage and children and how she takes over the family business, while Urako is always faithfully by her side. Although the setting and subject sounded interesting, I mostly chose this book because it was in the lgbt list of my library. Urako has a sapphic experience with a fellow maid, whom she remains fond of even decades later. However, the love of her life is Yukako, who never reciprocates her more intimate gestures.
You can tell the author has done a TON of research; I read that she had even studied the tea ceremony for several years. Buuuut I think all those details that made it so authentic also made the text incredibly heavy, so it took me about 5 weeks to read it. Nevertheless it was a very interesting look at the era and the complex tea ceremony, as well as the complicated familial relationships!
Rep: Japanese cast and setting, French-American-Japanese sapphic main character, sapphic Japanese side character
November 7, 2020
This took me a looooong time, but I'm happy I stuck with it, because I did really enjoy it.
September 26, 2018
I skimmed much of The Teahouse Fire. In itself that isn't condemnation as I ordered a copy late and rushed to finish in time for book-club. And while I enjoyed the passages I read, I felt relief at not reading every word. Had I taken the time to savor the words properly, the full read would likely have taken months.
For this is a sedate novel with a sedate subject; Japanese tea ceremony. And the scope of the story is lengthy to match the length of the novel. It tells the story of Aurelia from youth to middle-age. She's an American who, by a series of unlikely events, winds up an orphan in 19th century Japan. As a way to put a pair of western eyes in the far east, this is a less obnoxious method than having Tom Cruise fight beside the last samurai, though perhaps it's no more likely.
And that's the crux of the issue; the novel starts dramatically, with Aurelia whisked away to a distant land where she loses everyone she knows and survives by the charity of Yukako, the daughter of a noble family that teaches tea ceremony. Yukako adopts Aurelia and becomes her big sister, protector and object of affection. And to pair with this dramatic start, the denouement is... something else
But in between these wild bookends is the slow story of a life. There's lots of pining, hard work, learning the intricacies of the Japanese language, description of tea ceremonies and watching the Meiji Restoration happen. There are some interesting events; in particular, Yukako starts a business selling the idea of tea ceremony (and the accompanying tools) to westerners. This is a tricky job in a patriarchal society just starting to tear down its isolationist walls. But for the most part Aurelia's life moves along slowly, as is the case for most lives I suppose.
So while I can't complain too much about this story's parts, they feel out of place; the beginning and ending falling out of harmony with the middle. Like an understated sandwich combination made with the zestiest bread, or a subtle tea served in a flashy bowl.
For this is a sedate novel with a sedate subject; Japanese tea ceremony. And the scope of the story is lengthy to match the length of the novel. It tells the story of Aurelia from youth to middle-age. She's an American who, by a series of unlikely events, winds up an orphan in 19th century Japan. As a way to put a pair of western eyes in the far east, this is a less obnoxious method than having Tom Cruise fight beside the last samurai, though perhaps it's no more likely.
And that's the crux of the issue; the novel starts dramatically, with Aurelia whisked away to a distant land where she loses everyone she knows and survives by the charity of Yukako, the daughter of a noble family that teaches tea ceremony. Yukako adopts Aurelia and becomes her big sister, protector and object of affection. And to pair with this dramatic start, the denouement is... something else
But in between these wild bookends is the slow story of a life. There's lots of pining, hard work, learning the intricacies of the Japanese language, description of tea ceremonies and watching the Meiji Restoration happen. There are some interesting events; in particular, Yukako starts a business selling the idea of tea ceremony (and the accompanying tools) to westerners. This is a tricky job in a patriarchal society just starting to tear down its isolationist walls. But for the most part Aurelia's life moves along slowly, as is the case for most lives I suppose.
So while I can't complain too much about this story's parts, they feel out of place; the beginning and ending falling out of harmony with the middle. Like an understated sandwich combination made with the zestiest bread, or a subtle tea served in a flashy bowl.
January 23, 2012
I will admit that I listened to this book (on audible) rather than having read it. So that probably affected how I experienced the detail rich descriptions and pacing of plot, etc...
That said - I loved this book. I loved the authors treatment of the subtleties and nuances of so many aspects of Japanese culture... and then the depth of research and understanding shown in the treatment of how the cultural changes of the time period (1860's - 1920's or so)impacted Japan, both at broad cultural and deeply personal levels. The relationships are complex, and at the same time, the common themes are very easy to identify with.
This is not a light read. Not a book for people who like fast moving, plot-driven stories. Like the tea ceremony at its heart, this is a gracious story that deserves the time that it takes, where attention to detail matters, and part of its purpose is simply to be in the moment with beauty and tradition.
I will agree and disagree with other reviewers about the Epilogue. Yes, the ending was a bit too pat, and the abrupt shift in the pacing of the story was jarring. On the other hand, I do think that the ending made sense of a lot of what had gone before and it made me happy... there are so so so many stories where the only ending for characters such as these is tragedy. Given the struggles that had gone before, I was very gratified by the ending and in fact, would love to know the fuller and more detailed story of THOSE years...
That said - I loved this book. I loved the authors treatment of the subtleties and nuances of so many aspects of Japanese culture... and then the depth of research and understanding shown in the treatment of how the cultural changes of the time period (1860's - 1920's or so)impacted Japan, both at broad cultural and deeply personal levels. The relationships are complex, and at the same time, the common themes are very easy to identify with.
This is not a light read. Not a book for people who like fast moving, plot-driven stories. Like the tea ceremony at its heart, this is a gracious story that deserves the time that it takes, where attention to detail matters, and part of its purpose is simply to be in the moment with beauty and tradition.
I will agree and disagree with other reviewers about the Epilogue. Yes, the ending was a bit too pat, and the abrupt shift in the pacing of the story was jarring. On the other hand, I do think that the ending made sense of a lot of what had gone before and it made me happy... there are so so so many stories where the only ending for characters such as these is tragedy. Given the struggles that had gone before, I was very gratified by the ending and in fact, would love to know the fuller and more detailed story of THOSE years...
December 17, 2019
This was both a delightful and frustrating listen. There were many times where I felt like giving up on the book, but am glad that I stuck with it. It takes place in late 1800's Japan and portrays the dramatic societal changes both in Japan and the world through the lens of traditional Tea Ceremony and the relationships of the people involved. The book is long and I often wished it had been edited down - I think it could still have told the story in a shorter form. I kept thinking "less detail!", but I also think the pace and detail of the book match the Japanese society that Ellis Avery was telling about. While often frustrated, I liked that Avery was giving us an experience of Japan and Tea Ceremony in the detail and pacing of her book along with the story she was telling..
This is not a book for everyone, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Some reviewers have said that the ending was too pat and I felt that a little, but I still like the way it was resolved.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is offering a series "Literature in Art" where a tour is given that relates to various books. This is the book for March and I am eager to see this in the context of art.
This is not a book for everyone, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Some reviewers have said that the ending was too pat and I felt that a little, but I still like the way it was resolved.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is offering a series "Literature in Art" where a tour is given that relates to various books. This is the book for March and I am eager to see this in the context of art.
March 18, 2018
From 1856, 12 years before the Meiji Restoration and the beginning of modern Japan, through the Restoration with its upheavals and new life, and up to the early 20th century, comes the story of two women at the heart of a tea family, serving the Way of Tea and making their own way in a complex web of people connected to that family. The tea utensils, tea bowls, and teascoops in particular, are so well described I felt I'd learned with a master. Love twists through lives like steam twists through a tiny tearoom, touching more people than the lovers and endured with the calm acceptance of necessity as Japanese culture requires.
Avery writes like a goddess of words, choosing the unexpectedly perfect one for the foreign Japanese things every time. I have never read a book set in Japan that was so well rendered--giving us the tea ceremony, one of the most layered, intricate, exquisite of the arts, as it came from the mid-16th century into the mid-19th century. And giving us a story of generations of a family, a story of women seen close-up, a story of love and loss and the light of lives deeply lived.
One of the very best books set in Japan I have ever read … and intend to re-read!
Avery writes like a goddess of words, choosing the unexpectedly perfect one for the foreign Japanese things every time. I have never read a book set in Japan that was so well rendered--giving us the tea ceremony, one of the most layered, intricate, exquisite of the arts, as it came from the mid-16th century into the mid-19th century. And giving us a story of generations of a family, a story of women seen close-up, a story of love and loss and the light of lives deeply lived.
One of the very best books set in Japan I have ever read … and intend to re-read!
February 10, 2022
I admit, it's been so long since I've read this book that I have trouble remembering what it is it was about.
Yet, I know for a fact that of all the books I had read until 2021, this was the easiest read for me, having gone through it twice.
Ellis Avery has a way to pull the reader into her stories, making it an easy and relaxing read.
While the curiosity about what happens next remains, it is hardly the kind of suspense one has when reading other books as their breath remains in their throat.
One of my favorite gifts to date.
Yet, I know for a fact that of all the books I had read until 2021, this was the easiest read for me, having gone through it twice.
Ellis Avery has a way to pull the reader into her stories, making it an easy and relaxing read.
While the curiosity about what happens next remains, it is hardly the kind of suspense one has when reading other books as their breath remains in their throat.
One of my favorite gifts to date.
February 26, 2018
So...This books is extremely tiring. The author puts so many details at things that couldn't matter. Really, this just expanded the numbers of pages, because if the reader don't have knowledge of the Japanese culture is just confusing.
Anyway...Almost in the end the book was okay...Although I don't like of unrequited love
Anyway...Almost in the end the book was okay...Although I don't like of unrequited love
Did not finish
July 7, 2017dnf @ 19%. This really isn't grabbing me at all. Maybe I'll return to it at a later date
November 7, 2023
3.5. I appreciated it more than I did when I read it 15 years ago.
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