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The Ginger Tree
“One of the few contemporary novels to show Japan as it was and is.” — Japan Times The classic bittersweet story of love and betrayal in the Far East. A stunning tour de force acclaimed throughout the world, The Ginger Tree is the spellbinding odyssey of one woman's strength and spirit in the face of terrifying odds. In 1903, a young Scotswoman named Mary Mackenzie sets sail for China to marry her betrothed, a military attaché in Peking. But soon after her arrival, Mary falls into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman, scandalizing the British community. Casting her out of the European community, her compatriots tear her away from her small daughter. A woman abandoned and alone, Mary learns to survive over forty tumultuous years in Asia, including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
167 people are currently reading
4486 people want to read
About the author
Oswald Wynd
23 books27 followersAka Gavin Black
From Wikipedia:
Oswald Wynd (1913 – 1998) was a Scottish writer, born in Tokyo of parents who had left their native Perth to run a mission in Japan.
He attended schools in Japan where he grew up speaking both English and Japanese. In 1932 he returned with his parents to Scotland, and studied at the University of Edinburgh and began to write novels. When World War II came he joined the Scots Guards but was then commissioned into the Intelligence Corps and sent to Malaya. At the time of the Japanese invasion, he was attached to the Indian Army on the east coast of Malaya, and his brigade covered the final withdrawal to Singapore. Cut off by the Japanese advance, he was lost alone for a week in the Johor jungle. Eventually he was captured and spent more than three years as a prisoner of war, during which time he was mentioned in dispatches for his work as an interpreter for prisoners.
In Hokkaidō, during the last year of the war, he began a novel, Black Fountains, which in 1947 won the Doubleday Prize.[1][2]
After the war he returned to Scotland, via the Philippines, having now spent some twenty-three years of his life in the Far East. He lived in Scotland until his death in 1998 writing, among other books, the much admired The Ginger Tree and a series of highly successful thrillers under the pseudonym of 'Gavin Black'.
In the late 1980s The Ginger Tree was turned into a television series by the BBC, with NHK, Japan and WGBH Boston [3][4], starring Samantha Bond as the protagonist.
From Wikipedia:
Oswald Wynd (1913 – 1998) was a Scottish writer, born in Tokyo of parents who had left their native Perth to run a mission in Japan.
He attended schools in Japan where he grew up speaking both English and Japanese. In 1932 he returned with his parents to Scotland, and studied at the University of Edinburgh and began to write novels. When World War II came he joined the Scots Guards but was then commissioned into the Intelligence Corps and sent to Malaya. At the time of the Japanese invasion, he was attached to the Indian Army on the east coast of Malaya, and his brigade covered the final withdrawal to Singapore. Cut off by the Japanese advance, he was lost alone for a week in the Johor jungle. Eventually he was captured and spent more than three years as a prisoner of war, during which time he was mentioned in dispatches for his work as an interpreter for prisoners.
In Hokkaidō, during the last year of the war, he began a novel, Black Fountains, which in 1947 won the Doubleday Prize.[1][2]
After the war he returned to Scotland, via the Philippines, having now spent some twenty-three years of his life in the Far East. He lived in Scotland until his death in 1998 writing, among other books, the much admired The Ginger Tree and a series of highly successful thrillers under the pseudonym of 'Gavin Black'.
In the late 1980s The Ginger Tree was turned into a television series by the BBC, with NHK, Japan and WGBH Boston [3][4], starring Samantha Bond as the protagonist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 521 reviews
September 11, 2011
NO SPOILERS
Finished: Having completed the whole book I now feel it was simply amazing. Why? It never felt like fiction. Never. I have a hard time believing it is not based on some person the author knew...... Mary, who she was when she travelled to marry Richard and who she became living alone in the Orient, was perfectly rendered.
This is not a long book. Only the essentials are related, but that which is depicted is done with care and wonderful prose. That which the author has chosen to tell us and that which is hopped over has the effect of making the story utterly believable. If you were to tell of your life wouldn't you too edit out the less significant bits. What is significant can be something so ordinary as a particular mornig dew you felt on your skin. It is the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the unusal that is wonderfully balanced. The author's depiction of a tidal wave was for me something I will never forget. You see tidal waves and earthquakes and fires and the individuals living through these natural calamities. You see the Russo-Japanese War, WW1 and WW2. Particularly the Russo-Japanese war is described in detail - through characters for whom you care. You visit Tokyo, Yokohama, Nikko. What is delivered is not a touristic description but the undercurrent of life in these places at a given time.
And thirdly the author's portrayal of the Japanese is stupendous.
Through page 228:I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the book. Once Mary has escaped to Japan there isn't a sentence that you don't want to suck on and savour. It isn't that it was boring before, in China, but you primarily got the European life style in Peking. The author Oswald Wynd was born in Tokyo to Scottish missionaries. He spent much of his youth in Tokyo. He knows these people, and his writing shows this. You get under their skin. I have only visited Japan, but immediately I recognize certain Japanese traits. Always the writing style is humorous, never dry or dusty. Here is an example from page 228. She has been emitted into a hospital since she has pneumonia:
"I didn't care if I had a private place or not, all I wanted was a bed, and I got that, in a ward mostly of post-operative patients not one of whom, in the whole time I was there, disgraced herself by giving the slightest sign of pain endured. Japanese women bring so many admirable qualities to the process of being alive that I can understand Aiko's frustration at not being able to ship them up into concerted action against their much less admirable males."
I will not tell you about Aiko. You will have to read the book to meet her!
One more point that I must emphasize. I have turned back to see if there is any note telling me that this is not fiction. I keep thinking this must be based on a true person. It feels utterly REAL. What Mary says feels true given who she is. What she experiences, although very shocking at points, never feels imaginary. Absolutely never. This is remarkable!
Through page 170: I am loving it again!!! She is living in Japan. I will not say why. The description of Japanese life, culture and ways is marvelous. The Russian Japanese War in Manchuria is over, and I have forgotten to mention that these historical elements have been interwoven into the story. In China Mary was confined to the British foreign community, thus you learned less about Chinese life, and instead about the Europeans living in Peking. Currently she is resinding a little outside Tokyo. Not only do you get the culture but also the history of that time. I am thoroughly enjoying this again. The facts are never dry! Some of her friends are amazing and fun and daring. It is the Japanese culture that interests me. I recognize so much!
Through page 127: Here are two quotes, page 82 then 105:
"Wicked Marie, after seeing Edith-who is very thin- arrive at a dinner party in a brown-grey evening dress made like a tube said it was like watching a very big earthworm come in from the garden. I must find out what Marie says about me behind my back, and I am sure Edith will be most willing to tell me."
"I am a fool to have written to Mama as thought she was a friend, not Mama. It is as if I have forgotten in half a year, what she is really like and how she has always lived. Fortunately, as usual the post came after Richard had gone to the Legation. He reads all letter that come to me, as a husband's right. But he will not read this one. I set a match to it and watch it burn in the empty drawing-room stove. In future I will always be the dutiful daughter and write to Mama about the weather and what a lovely weekend we had at the Italian Legation. Perhaps it is as well that I have been checked in this way, because if I had not Mama might soon have been readingg between the lines that I do not find being married to Richard what I hoped for in coming to China. I was a fool there, too. Why do we have to make such terrible decisions for our whole lives when we are too young to know what we are doing? The big mistakes are hung around your neck and you have to wear them forever."
The story is good but parts drag and I wish it were not just letters or diary notes. The form isn't my favorite, but what she writes can make you laugh. You never get to read the letter from her Mama. There is a naivity that kind of bugs me. I am happier when she is having a hard time and she is being brave and strong. Some bits have holes - she hardly talks about the birth of her first child. Or did I miss something?! This book is written from a woman's point of view, that is of a Scottish woman back in the early 1900s.
Trough page 86: Something is happening - I am totally falling in love with Mary. Yes, times are not so rosy, neither with her husband, the marriage situation, nor being a foreigner in a strange environment. But she is made of hard stuff and is resilient and is forming friends with several people, one of which is a French woman, Marie. I laugh when Marie warns her not to learn Chinese! Why? Well b/c if you pronounce certain words incorectly the meaning of the word becomes very bad. In the French language this is true too, and I myself have seen very peculiar expressions on people's faces when I talk. So I am both laughing and commiserating with Mary. There is much I can relate to. I like the book very, very much. It is sad and horrible and yet very funny.
Through page 57: It is so funny - you start another book and the way different author write hits you smack in the face. This isn't to say one is good and the other bad, it is just they are so diametrically opposed! You kind of feel a culture shock. If you have read a bit of the reviews for this book then you know that the main character, Mary Mackenzie, leaves Scotland to travel to Peking, China, in the year 1903 to marry her fiancé, Richard Collingsworth, a British attaché posted in Peking. This all takes place following the tempestuous Boxer Rebellion. She is young, naive, blue-eyed BUT she definitely has a head placed securely on her shoulders. She observes; she has opinions which she writes in her diary and letters. It is pretty clear she has the gumption to do what she wants to do. The first thing she does is clandestinely remove her corset from the prying eyes of her chaperone, Mrs. Carswell. The weather is HOT aboard the boat ride from Scotland to Shanghai. Reason wins over propriety! Back to the point, the writing style. The follwoing hopefully shows you what I mean:
"Richard arrived in a carriage and though it was cold it was sunny, and we drove with the hood down and well wrapped up in a bearskin rug that was smelly, but warm. Richard was interested in all the sights where battles had been fought for the control of Tienstin during the Boxer Troubles and we stopped on an iron bridge across a narrow river where the fighting had been very intense. What interested me was the river itself. I could scarcely see water between the sampans and small junks packed into it on which families were living out their lives. It was really a floating slum cutting across the the main shopping street of Tientsin in which there are many fine shops and buildings, these all restored for business again. I wonder where the people in the boats went to during the Boxer figthing, perhaps they just stayed where they were, hoping for no stray bullets. Mrs Brinkhill told me that I would soon get use to the poverty in China, but I haven't yet....."
"I must give you my first impression of Peking. It was dusk when we went in rickshas from the station towards the walls and a huge gate in them. My ricksha and the ones behind carrying Richard and my luggage, had to slow down to make way for a camel. The camel had a big load on side packs and bells on its neck and it almost pushed past me on the ricksha as though to show that in China camels have priority over Europeans. I said the the camel: 'By all means go first,' and Richard called out that he hadn't heard what I said. I couldn't very well tell him that his finacée had started talking to camels."
The writing is amusing and there is alot of description of the time and place. However I don't usually like epistolary writing, which is what this is. It does bother me a bit. Her naivity also is sometimes a bit TOO cute, but I think this will change when the English community starts ostracizing her behavior. I believe she will wisen up quickly. This will probably show in the writing. She isn't a push-over. Ughh, I hate copying these quotes, but I think it is very important for readers to see the style.
So far, so good!
Finished: Having completed the whole book I now feel it was simply amazing. Why? It never felt like fiction. Never. I have a hard time believing it is not based on some person the author knew...... Mary, who she was when she travelled to marry Richard and who she became living alone in the Orient, was perfectly rendered.
This is not a long book. Only the essentials are related, but that which is depicted is done with care and wonderful prose. That which the author has chosen to tell us and that which is hopped over has the effect of making the story utterly believable. If you were to tell of your life wouldn't you too edit out the less significant bits. What is significant can be something so ordinary as a particular mornig dew you felt on your skin. It is the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the unusal that is wonderfully balanced. The author's depiction of a tidal wave was for me something I will never forget. You see tidal waves and earthquakes and fires and the individuals living through these natural calamities. You see the Russo-Japanese War, WW1 and WW2. Particularly the Russo-Japanese war is described in detail - through characters for whom you care. You visit Tokyo, Yokohama, Nikko. What is delivered is not a touristic description but the undercurrent of life in these places at a given time.
And thirdly the author's portrayal of the Japanese is stupendous.
Through page 228:I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the book. Once Mary has escaped to Japan there isn't a sentence that you don't want to suck on and savour. It isn't that it was boring before, in China, but you primarily got the European life style in Peking. The author Oswald Wynd was born in Tokyo to Scottish missionaries. He spent much of his youth in Tokyo. He knows these people, and his writing shows this. You get under their skin. I have only visited Japan, but immediately I recognize certain Japanese traits. Always the writing style is humorous, never dry or dusty. Here is an example from page 228. She has been emitted into a hospital since she has pneumonia:
"I didn't care if I had a private place or not, all I wanted was a bed, and I got that, in a ward mostly of post-operative patients not one of whom, in the whole time I was there, disgraced herself by giving the slightest sign of pain endured. Japanese women bring so many admirable qualities to the process of being alive that I can understand Aiko's frustration at not being able to ship them up into concerted action against their much less admirable males."
I will not tell you about Aiko. You will have to read the book to meet her!
One more point that I must emphasize. I have turned back to see if there is any note telling me that this is not fiction. I keep thinking this must be based on a true person. It feels utterly REAL. What Mary says feels true given who she is. What she experiences, although very shocking at points, never feels imaginary. Absolutely never. This is remarkable!
Through page 170: I am loving it again!!! She is living in Japan. I will not say why. The description of Japanese life, culture and ways is marvelous. The Russian Japanese War in Manchuria is over, and I have forgotten to mention that these historical elements have been interwoven into the story. In China Mary was confined to the British foreign community, thus you learned less about Chinese life, and instead about the Europeans living in Peking. Currently she is resinding a little outside Tokyo. Not only do you get the culture but also the history of that time. I am thoroughly enjoying this again. The facts are never dry! Some of her friends are amazing and fun and daring. It is the Japanese culture that interests me. I recognize so much!
Through page 127: Here are two quotes, page 82 then 105:
"Wicked Marie, after seeing Edith-who is very thin- arrive at a dinner party in a brown-grey evening dress made like a tube said it was like watching a very big earthworm come in from the garden. I must find out what Marie says about me behind my back, and I am sure Edith will be most willing to tell me."
"I am a fool to have written to Mama as thought she was a friend, not Mama. It is as if I have forgotten in half a year, what she is really like and how she has always lived. Fortunately, as usual the post came after Richard had gone to the Legation. He reads all letter that come to me, as a husband's right. But he will not read this one. I set a match to it and watch it burn in the empty drawing-room stove. In future I will always be the dutiful daughter and write to Mama about the weather and what a lovely weekend we had at the Italian Legation. Perhaps it is as well that I have been checked in this way, because if I had not Mama might soon have been readingg between the lines that I do not find being married to Richard what I hoped for in coming to China. I was a fool there, too. Why do we have to make such terrible decisions for our whole lives when we are too young to know what we are doing? The big mistakes are hung around your neck and you have to wear them forever."
The story is good but parts drag and I wish it were not just letters or diary notes. The form isn't my favorite, but what she writes can make you laugh. You never get to read the letter from her Mama. There is a naivity that kind of bugs me. I am happier when she is having a hard time and she is being brave and strong. Some bits have holes - she hardly talks about the birth of her first child. Or did I miss something?! This book is written from a woman's point of view, that is of a Scottish woman back in the early 1900s.
Trough page 86: Something is happening - I am totally falling in love with Mary. Yes, times are not so rosy, neither with her husband, the marriage situation, nor being a foreigner in a strange environment. But she is made of hard stuff and is resilient and is forming friends with several people, one of which is a French woman, Marie. I laugh when Marie warns her not to learn Chinese! Why? Well b/c if you pronounce certain words incorectly the meaning of the word becomes very bad. In the French language this is true too, and I myself have seen very peculiar expressions on people's faces when I talk. So I am both laughing and commiserating with Mary. There is much I can relate to. I like the book very, very much. It is sad and horrible and yet very funny.
Through page 57: It is so funny - you start another book and the way different author write hits you smack in the face. This isn't to say one is good and the other bad, it is just they are so diametrically opposed! You kind of feel a culture shock. If you have read a bit of the reviews for this book then you know that the main character, Mary Mackenzie, leaves Scotland to travel to Peking, China, in the year 1903 to marry her fiancé, Richard Collingsworth, a British attaché posted in Peking. This all takes place following the tempestuous Boxer Rebellion. She is young, naive, blue-eyed BUT she definitely has a head placed securely on her shoulders. She observes; she has opinions which she writes in her diary and letters. It is pretty clear she has the gumption to do what she wants to do. The first thing she does is clandestinely remove her corset from the prying eyes of her chaperone, Mrs. Carswell. The weather is HOT aboard the boat ride from Scotland to Shanghai. Reason wins over propriety! Back to the point, the writing style. The follwoing hopefully shows you what I mean:
"Richard arrived in a carriage and though it was cold it was sunny, and we drove with the hood down and well wrapped up in a bearskin rug that was smelly, but warm. Richard was interested in all the sights where battles had been fought for the control of Tienstin during the Boxer Troubles and we stopped on an iron bridge across a narrow river where the fighting had been very intense. What interested me was the river itself. I could scarcely see water between the sampans and small junks packed into it on which families were living out their lives. It was really a floating slum cutting across the the main shopping street of Tientsin in which there are many fine shops and buildings, these all restored for business again. I wonder where the people in the boats went to during the Boxer figthing, perhaps they just stayed where they were, hoping for no stray bullets. Mrs Brinkhill told me that I would soon get use to the poverty in China, but I haven't yet....."
"I must give you my first impression of Peking. It was dusk when we went in rickshas from the station towards the walls and a huge gate in them. My ricksha and the ones behind carrying Richard and my luggage, had to slow down to make way for a camel. The camel had a big load on side packs and bells on its neck and it almost pushed past me on the ricksha as though to show that in China camels have priority over Europeans. I said the the camel: 'By all means go first,' and Richard called out that he hadn't heard what I said. I couldn't very well tell him that his finacée had started talking to camels."
The writing is amusing and there is alot of description of the time and place. However I don't usually like epistolary writing, which is what this is. It does bother me a bit. Her naivity also is sometimes a bit TOO cute, but I think this will change when the English community starts ostracizing her behavior. I believe she will wisen up quickly. This will probably show in the writing. She isn't a push-over. Ughh, I hate copying these quotes, but I think it is very important for readers to see the style.
So far, so good!
July 21, 2013
This is a story of a young Scottish woman, Mary MacKenzie, who moves to China to get married in the early 1900s. She tells us her story through diary entries and letters. The writing carries us from event to event in her life in a rather robotic way: this happened and then this happened and so on. The writing was very affectless which made me feel very distant from Mary and unengaged in her story. This made for quite tedious reading. Several times I felt like putting down this book, but thought that it must get more interesting once we got to WW1 and WW11. I was wrong.
The one good thing about this book is that I learned something about what it was like for European women to live in China and Japan in the early 1900s.
2 1/2 stars.
The one good thing about this book is that I learned something about what it was like for European women to live in China and Japan in the early 1900s.
2 1/2 stars.
March 23, 2021
There's always something extra delightful about coming across a novel you've never heard of by chance and then finding out you love it. I grabbed this one from my Little Free Library in the early days of the pandemic, when the public library was closed, but for some reason, just got around to reading it now.
The story of Mary, a rather innocent young woman, travelling by ship to China to marry a man she barely knows, pulled me in right from the first paragraph and held me in its thrall right to the end. While the story is billed as a romance (young woman falls madly in love with the wrong man and almost loses everything) it was so much more than that. Mary is no ordinary romantic heroine but instead a brave adventurer who learns to trust her instincts and use her intelligence to create a life for herself, even in the face of unbearable loss.
Spanning 40 years and several countries, this was a perfect read for those of us getting a little tired of staring at the same four walls for months on end. 4.5 stars.
The story of Mary, a rather innocent young woman, travelling by ship to China to marry a man she barely knows, pulled me in right from the first paragraph and held me in its thrall right to the end. While the story is billed as a romance (young woman falls madly in love with the wrong man and almost loses everything) it was so much more than that. Mary is no ordinary romantic heroine but instead a brave adventurer who learns to trust her instincts and use her intelligence to create a life for herself, even in the face of unbearable loss.
Spanning 40 years and several countries, this was a perfect read for those of us getting a little tired of staring at the same four walls for months on end. 4.5 stars.
January 29, 2019
I didn't want it to end. I'm so glad that a review of this book on Goodreads sparked my curiosity and led me to read THE GINGER TREE.
January 12, 2022
En resumen, y para aquellos que adoran este párrafo en las publicaciones, no es una historia épica pero sí es una historia maravillosa sobre una mujer, sobre sus años en Japón, sobre su vida, sus amores, sus errores y, sobre todo, su soledad.
(opinión completa) 👇👇👇👇
https://millibrosenmibiblioteca.blogs...
(opinión completa) 👇👇👇👇
https://millibrosenmibiblioteca.blogs...
September 23, 2021
Muy entretenido y muy interesante la historia de Mary. Estuve a punto de quitarle algunas estrellas porque noté un cierto tono despectivo en algunas partes,pero es un libro de hace bastantes años,así que no se lo tomaré en cuenta por esta vez.
June 22, 2010
This novel was first published way back in 1977, and has been reprinted several times so must be a popular story! This book was given to me to read by an elderly couple, her Japanese and he European. They were married in Japan some 47 years ago, such a mixed marriage being unusual for those days. They suggested I read this because it gives a lot of insight into Japanese society from around 1900 to WWII. Things of course started to change in Japan after the war, but prior to that very little changed.
The story is narrated by way of a diary and letters by a young Scottish woman, Mary Mackenzie, who is sailing out to China to marry an army man she has decided to marry to get away from Scotland and the unexciting life she has there. The marriage of course is a disaster, despite a daughter being born, and Mary has a very brief affair with a Japanese career soldier, gets pregnant, is ostracised from the expat community in Shanghai and flees to Japan. She remains in Japan until 1942 when the book ends. Over the years Mary experiences all sorts of traumas and trials and ends up making a very good life for herself in Japan, becoming financially independent, which I imagine was a most unusual accomplishment for any woman of that time, let alone a European one in pre-war Japan.
So the story is relatively trite, and the characters are fairly predictable, but the best thing about the book is the insight we get into pre-war Chinese and Japan society and how Europeans fitted in or didn't. I found it difficult to completely engage with this story, mainly due to its style of narration. Mary sends letters to her mother in Scotland and to a French woman whom she met when living in China. The rest of the story is via diary entries. So we have a very personal and intimate narration style, but I felt very detached from Mary and how her life was unfolding. I almost felt like an observer rather than a confidante of her. Nevertheless a good read which gives a good insight into a society and time most people would know little about.
The story is narrated by way of a diary and letters by a young Scottish woman, Mary Mackenzie, who is sailing out to China to marry an army man she has decided to marry to get away from Scotland and the unexciting life she has there. The marriage of course is a disaster, despite a daughter being born, and Mary has a very brief affair with a Japanese career soldier, gets pregnant, is ostracised from the expat community in Shanghai and flees to Japan. She remains in Japan until 1942 when the book ends. Over the years Mary experiences all sorts of traumas and trials and ends up making a very good life for herself in Japan, becoming financially independent, which I imagine was a most unusual accomplishment for any woman of that time, let alone a European one in pre-war Japan.
So the story is relatively trite, and the characters are fairly predictable, but the best thing about the book is the insight we get into pre-war Chinese and Japan society and how Europeans fitted in or didn't. I found it difficult to completely engage with this story, mainly due to its style of narration. Mary sends letters to her mother in Scotland and to a French woman whom she met when living in China. The rest of the story is via diary entries. So we have a very personal and intimate narration style, but I felt very detached from Mary and how her life was unfolding. I almost felt like an observer rather than a confidante of her. Nevertheless a good read which gives a good insight into a society and time most people would know little about.
January 1, 2012
This has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for more than 10 years. I was attracted to it by the recommendations of others but put off by the fact that it is told in journal entries and some letters, which is generally not my favorite way to convey a story. However, in this case, I was pulled into Mary Mackenzie's world from the first few pages and stayed there. It's been a long time since I've read a book that kept calling me to sit down and read every moment but this one did just that.
It is the story of Mary Mckenzie who leaves Scotland in 1903 to marry a military attache in Peking, China. She is a conventional girl with a curious mind who grows to be a savvy woman learning to survive through amazing circumstances. In the background is the history of the orient during the first half of the 20th century, particularly Japan as it rises to the status of a super power.
It is the story of Mary Mckenzie who leaves Scotland in 1903 to marry a military attache in Peking, China. She is a conventional girl with a curious mind who grows to be a savvy woman learning to survive through amazing circumstances. In the background is the history of the orient during the first half of the 20th century, particularly Japan as it rises to the status of a super power.
November 2, 2012
This is the kind of book that unfolds like a delectable seven-course meal. Not too rich and everything cooked to perfection. The characters are well-drawn, and sense of place is unforgettable.
What I love about this book is how it shows opportunities and decisions conspire to shape one's life, but outside forces will intrude. We are never truly in control of our own lives. Natural disasters, political forces, and people we randomly meet will change our lives for good and bad.
The plot of this book is 100% credible, and the end is touching without being sentimental. It hits all the major themes: love, loss, war, and betrayal. This is the most satisfying book I've read since Laurens van der Post's "A Story Like the Wind."
What I love about this book is how it shows opportunities and decisions conspire to shape one's life, but outside forces will intrude. We are never truly in control of our own lives. Natural disasters, political forces, and people we randomly meet will change our lives for good and bad.
The plot of this book is 100% credible, and the end is touching without being sentimental. It hits all the major themes: love, loss, war, and betrayal. This is the most satisfying book I've read since Laurens van der Post's "A Story Like the Wind."
April 23, 2018
This is a slow-burning historical novel that follows Scottish Mary Mackenzie from 1903 when she is sailing half way round the world to marry Richard, a military attaché stationed in China, to 1941 when she is finally sailing back, evacuated from the Far East in the Second World War, having made some choices and gone through some life events that the young Mary of the opening chapters would never have foreseen.
I found the first 100 pages slow going as there wasn’t much that hooked me emotionally. But then things start to happen and perhaps the slowness of the first part is deliberate, to show the sterility of the life Mary was leading in China. As it went on, I really enjoyed it.
I found the first 100 pages slow going as there wasn’t much that hooked me emotionally. But then things start to happen and perhaps the slowness of the first part is deliberate, to show the sterility of the life Mary was leading in China. As it went on, I really enjoyed it.
September 8, 2011
Just arrived from USA trough BM.
This is the story of a Scotswoman Mary MacKenzie who starts her saga by sailing in 1903 in order to get married to a military attache in Peking. However, she falls in love with a young Japanese nobleman and her adulterous case is very criticized by the British community in Peking. If you really want to know what happens next, you MUST read this book which is written as letters to her mother in Scotland.
This is the story of a Scotswoman Mary MacKenzie who starts her saga by sailing in 1903 in order to get married to a military attache in Peking. However, she falls in love with a young Japanese nobleman and her adulterous case is very criticized by the British community in Peking. If you really want to know what happens next, you MUST read this book which is written as letters to her mother in Scotland.
November 15, 2015
This is by far the most interesting book I have read this year. The joy of participating in a book club is that you are often introduced to a book you would not find on your own, and that was precisely the case with this 1977 novel.
Written as the first-person account of a young woman travelling to Asia in 1903 to marry a Scottish military attaché, I was totally captivated by her story from the first page. It was very apparent, early on, that this was going to be a rough ride for our protagonist and the portents were certainly accurate.
The magic of The Ginger Tree is that the reader is able to experience, and feel, so much through this one story:
. . . . the awe of a young foreigner meeting the Empress of China for tea at the Imperial Palace;
. . . . the disillusionment of a young bride regarding the state of her marriage;
. . . . the challenges and shallowness of European society in Imperial China's diplomatic community;
. . . . the strength it takes to walk away from everything with no one or nothing material to support you;
. . . and so much more.
If it sounds operatic, perhaps it is. But, I was totally entranced by the forty year journey we travel with this woman and her pragmatic and stoic approach to her life with virtually no family or support system to sustain her. I love novels about the restraints society places on women and how they struggle within them. This woman didn't whine. She didn't capitulate. And, she didn't compromise.
This should be required reading for all young women. It is not a candy-coated tale of love and success; it is a starkly realistic story about life, love and survival. It is a wonderful book.
Written as the first-person account of a young woman travelling to Asia in 1903 to marry a Scottish military attaché, I was totally captivated by her story from the first page. It was very apparent, early on, that this was going to be a rough ride for our protagonist and the portents were certainly accurate.
The magic of The Ginger Tree is that the reader is able to experience, and feel, so much through this one story:
. . . . the awe of a young foreigner meeting the Empress of China for tea at the Imperial Palace;
. . . . the disillusionment of a young bride regarding the state of her marriage;
. . . . the challenges and shallowness of European society in Imperial China's diplomatic community;
. . . . the strength it takes to walk away from everything with no one or nothing material to support you;
. . . and so much more.
If it sounds operatic, perhaps it is. But, I was totally entranced by the forty year journey we travel with this woman and her pragmatic and stoic approach to her life with virtually no family or support system to sustain her. I love novels about the restraints society places on women and how they struggle within them. This woman didn't whine. She didn't capitulate. And, she didn't compromise.
This should be required reading for all young women. It is not a candy-coated tale of love and success; it is a starkly realistic story about life, love and survival. It is a wonderful book.
March 29, 2019
I’m so glad this book was chosen for book club. I can’t even begin to write my thoughts, but Mary’s fictional story still holds true for many things today. I couldn’t stop reading this book and loved every word.
January 15, 2022
He disfrutado muchísimo leyendo El árbol de jengibre. Una vez que comencé, no podía parar, tenía la necesidad de saber que ocurriría con Mary Mackenzie. A lo largo de la lectura he hecho varias reflexiones como suele ocurrirme. Oswald Wynd ha escrito usando la voz de una mujer y creo que lo ha hecho de una forma muy creíble. Si, una mujer podría haber escrito esas entradas en un diario. Yo misma suelo escribir hechos, sucesos, sentimientos y pensamientos en una libreta bajo una fecha.
A lo largo de la historia las mujeres lo han tenido difícil: la mayoría analfabetas, las que tuvieron la suerte de leer y escribir, en pocas ocasiones pudieron ser leídas. Sin embargo cuántos hombres han escrito queriendo usar el pensamiento, el sentir, las vivencias de mujeres. Expresarse como si fueran mujeres pero sin querer escucharlas realmente. En este caso Mary es una mujer admirable que se forja a sí misma y crece con los avatares del destino. Wynd nació en Tokio, hijo de escoceses que vivió una vida intensa, como la de su personaje, pero no eligió un protagonista masculino para esta obra ni para su Black Fountains que ganó el Doubleday Prize. ¿Porqué elegir protagonistas femeninos? Es curiosidad de mi parte.
Desde hace tiempo tengo fascinación por varios aspectos de la cultura japonesa y en esta obra se muestran algunas formas de ésta vistas desde los ojos occidentales y sin ahondar mucho en ellas. Es un libro ligero y agradable que se lee con facilidad y entusiasmo, lo recomiendo ampliamente.
A lo largo de la historia las mujeres lo han tenido difícil: la mayoría analfabetas, las que tuvieron la suerte de leer y escribir, en pocas ocasiones pudieron ser leídas. Sin embargo cuántos hombres han escrito queriendo usar el pensamiento, el sentir, las vivencias de mujeres. Expresarse como si fueran mujeres pero sin querer escucharlas realmente. En este caso Mary es una mujer admirable que se forja a sí misma y crece con los avatares del destino. Wynd nació en Tokio, hijo de escoceses que vivió una vida intensa, como la de su personaje, pero no eligió un protagonista masculino para esta obra ni para su Black Fountains que ganó el Doubleday Prize. ¿Porqué elegir protagonistas femeninos? Es curiosidad de mi parte.
Desde hace tiempo tengo fascinación por varios aspectos de la cultura japonesa y en esta obra se muestran algunas formas de ésta vistas desde los ojos occidentales y sin ahondar mucho en ellas. Es un libro ligero y agradable que se lee con facilidad y entusiasmo, lo recomiendo ampliamente.
February 18, 2014
This book covers quite of bit of early 19 century in the China/Japan from 1903 to 1942. It is written by a male Oswald Wynd but in a women's voice. He pulls much from his own background: His parents were from Scotland -the main protagonist, Mary Mackenzie; the author was born in 1913 in the foreigner's quarter of Tokoyo, Japan in 1913 while his father was working as a baptist missionary and spent most of his life in Japan--his protagonist spent most of her adult life in Japan and felt like it was her home.
He covers a bit of the Russo-Japanese War, the boxer rebellion, WWI and WWII.
The book is written in Mary's voice through her journal and letters. She is trying to find herself and her place in a foreign country and in situations that she was not prepared for.
Wynd paints a good picture of the people in china (where Mary goes first to meet her fiancé and marry) and landscape and also Japan's landscape and people.
Mary was betrothed in Scotland to a man she only met briefly and then he was stationed in China. She voyage across the sea to China were she married him to find her husband distant and in a distant land. Mary had a girl. She met a Japanese soldier and then was abandoned by her husband when it was found out that she was pregnant again but it couldn't have been by husband. The husband took her daughter, Jane. She made her way to Japan where her lover took care of her until her son, Tomo was born and then he took the son because he was of Kurihama blood and she was left on her own again. She eventually started a dress shop to support herself.
26-"The island is called the Great Natuna and belongs to the Dutch. The Dutch seem to have a huge empire in these parts that stretches for thousands of miles and includes thousands of island, some very big like Sumatra. At school we always thought there was only one really big empire and that was our, on which the sun will never set. I was looking at the island with the silly idea in my mind that it would be nice to be queen of such a place and never leave it when suddenlyI remembered Mrs. Carswell being carried down the gangplank at Penang looking already dead. I shivered. Mrs. B came up behind me then and asked what was the matter? I told her what I been thinking about and she said something I will always remember; 'Child, you are traveling towards the lands of sudden death.' She told me about a huge flood in China near a place called Wuhan in which some say as many as two and a half million people drowned, which is half of all the people in Scotland. Many of the bodies came floating down river to near Shanghai where Mrs. B was at the time."
50- "It is not easy for a husband and wife to have interests together in Peking. Tennis is played here in the Quarter during the summer, but there are no winter activities such as as there used to be like skating outside the city walls and sometimes race meetings because the area is still unsafe for Europeans."
78-"I have been thinking about friendship, how it is usually an accident."
79-" You would have thought that in a place where the Emperor sometimes comes to worship there would have been priest about, or at least someone to pull up the weeds. Marie would not go down to the actual temple because she was reminded of the Boxer Troubles by what she says is the most frightening thing in China, a sudden deep silence where there should be continuous noise. It was certainly silent at the Temple of Heaven and we were quite glad to get back into the carriage again and hear the clip-clop of hoses' hooves."
96-Tea party at winter glance.
165-"The most terrible thing in the play is the idea of the Fates hounding, the witches their instrument, so that you know there is no escape for Macbeth, his doom inevitable. This is a little like the idea of God strict Presbysterians in Scotland still have, that He has chosen you for hell or heaven before you are born. It is a really wicked thing to pin on God. I cannot believe in Fate as we see it in Macbeth. I was not inevitable destined to climb a Chinese hill path and allow a Japanese soldier to make me with child. What I did then was from my own choice, I cannot blame God or the Fates, just myself. And often, looking at Tomo, I am glad."
169-how the homes in Japan were built. How they survive earthquakes and fires.
208-"I have learned a great deal about Japanese bows. A book could be written on the art, which is subject to stricter rules than flowers arranging. There are bows for one's social equals, these variable according to the circumstances of the meeting, and for one's superiors, bows for servants, tradesmen, even tram conductors, men's bows to women, always shallow, women's to men, always very deep, plus a huge assortment of women's bows for other women, these a complete language in themselves. without saying one word a lady can place you exactly where she thinks you ought to be and more fool if you don't know that you are being assigned your state, as newcomers to what seems the world's politest country never do. The visitor's bow was really very generous, classifying me as almost a lady, if not quite."
232-Tsunamis
238- The industrialization of Japan.
288-the ginger tree-- I think she kept this in her garden because it was out of place just like she was.
311-"I have seen this happen often enough before, waves of anti-Western sentiment, the worse after the American Exclusion Act, which branded the Japanese as yellow Asiatics and not fit to set foot on US soil. At that time I couldn't blame the people around me for the hard looks I got, and I don't now either, for this time they are the victims of the militarist propaganda machine, being groomed to think what the ruling generals, including Kentaro, want them to think."
I liked the book and would recommend it.
He covers a bit of the Russo-Japanese War, the boxer rebellion, WWI and WWII.
The book is written in Mary's voice through her journal and letters. She is trying to find herself and her place in a foreign country and in situations that she was not prepared for.
Wynd paints a good picture of the people in china (where Mary goes first to meet her fiancé and marry) and landscape and also Japan's landscape and people.
Mary was betrothed in Scotland to a man she only met briefly and then he was stationed in China. She voyage across the sea to China were she married him to find her husband distant and in a distant land. Mary had a girl. She met a Japanese soldier and then was abandoned by her husband when it was found out that she was pregnant again but it couldn't have been by husband. The husband took her daughter, Jane. She made her way to Japan where her lover took care of her until her son, Tomo was born and then he took the son because he was of Kurihama blood and she was left on her own again. She eventually started a dress shop to support herself.
26-"The island is called the Great Natuna and belongs to the Dutch. The Dutch seem to have a huge empire in these parts that stretches for thousands of miles and includes thousands of island, some very big like Sumatra. At school we always thought there was only one really big empire and that was our, on which the sun will never set. I was looking at the island with the silly idea in my mind that it would be nice to be queen of such a place and never leave it when suddenlyI remembered Mrs. Carswell being carried down the gangplank at Penang looking already dead. I shivered. Mrs. B came up behind me then and asked what was the matter? I told her what I been thinking about and she said something I will always remember; 'Child, you are traveling towards the lands of sudden death.' She told me about a huge flood in China near a place called Wuhan in which some say as many as two and a half million people drowned, which is half of all the people in Scotland. Many of the bodies came floating down river to near Shanghai where Mrs. B was at the time."
50- "It is not easy for a husband and wife to have interests together in Peking. Tennis is played here in the Quarter during the summer, but there are no winter activities such as as there used to be like skating outside the city walls and sometimes race meetings because the area is still unsafe for Europeans."
78-"I have been thinking about friendship, how it is usually an accident."
79-" You would have thought that in a place where the Emperor sometimes comes to worship there would have been priest about, or at least someone to pull up the weeds. Marie would not go down to the actual temple because she was reminded of the Boxer Troubles by what she says is the most frightening thing in China, a sudden deep silence where there should be continuous noise. It was certainly silent at the Temple of Heaven and we were quite glad to get back into the carriage again and hear the clip-clop of hoses' hooves."
96-Tea party at winter glance.
165-"The most terrible thing in the play is the idea of the Fates hounding, the witches their instrument, so that you know there is no escape for Macbeth, his doom inevitable. This is a little like the idea of God strict Presbysterians in Scotland still have, that He has chosen you for hell or heaven before you are born. It is a really wicked thing to pin on God. I cannot believe in Fate as we see it in Macbeth. I was not inevitable destined to climb a Chinese hill path and allow a Japanese soldier to make me with child. What I did then was from my own choice, I cannot blame God or the Fates, just myself. And often, looking at Tomo, I am glad."
169-how the homes in Japan were built. How they survive earthquakes and fires.
208-"I have learned a great deal about Japanese bows. A book could be written on the art, which is subject to stricter rules than flowers arranging. There are bows for one's social equals, these variable according to the circumstances of the meeting, and for one's superiors, bows for servants, tradesmen, even tram conductors, men's bows to women, always shallow, women's to men, always very deep, plus a huge assortment of women's bows for other women, these a complete language in themselves. without saying one word a lady can place you exactly where she thinks you ought to be and more fool if you don't know that you are being assigned your state, as newcomers to what seems the world's politest country never do. The visitor's bow was really very generous, classifying me as almost a lady, if not quite."
232-Tsunamis
238- The industrialization of Japan.
288-the ginger tree-- I think she kept this in her garden because it was out of place just like she was.
311-"I have seen this happen often enough before, waves of anti-Western sentiment, the worse after the American Exclusion Act, which branded the Japanese as yellow Asiatics and not fit to set foot on US soil. At that time I couldn't blame the people around me for the hard looks I got, and I don't now either, for this time they are the victims of the militarist propaganda machine, being groomed to think what the ruling generals, including Kentaro, want them to think."
I liked the book and would recommend it.
October 25, 2021
Bellissima storia, forse un po' lento l'inizio per i miei gusti, ma dopp diventa molto coinvolgente, anche perché è un romanzo scritto sotto forma di diario. Certo, rimane un po' l'amaro in bocca per quella che è la vita e il destino della protagonista, ma ci sta. Soprattutto è una che copre quasi il primo mezzo secolo del novecento, quindi con due guerre di mezzo... Mi è piaciuto tanto, mi mancherà.
January 6, 2022
Me costó un poco adentrarme en la historia, de hecho lo dejé de leer y ya cuando superé esa etapa no lo pude soltar. Tal vez fue el crecimiento que tiene la protagonista que envuelve y te lleva a conocer además de su vida a un Japón abierto a Occidente. Lo conoces al mismo tiempo que ella. Enamorada de Japón y su cultura.
April 29, 2020
An alien.
Book Club Book. Did you know that ginger trees do not naturally grow in cities in Japan? Considered an ugly, alien plant that will not give up, the ginger tree comes to symbolize the life and ambitions of Mary Mackenzie.
Written entirely as either journal entries or letters to her mother and/or a friend called Marie, The Ginger Tree tells the story of a young, sheltered, naive -- yet strong! -- young woman at the turn of the 20th century. We journey with her on the road to maturity as well as the road all over the world -- starting on a ship heading to China. On her way we catch glimpses of her backbone. In China, we see her survive a loveless and cold marriage. In Japan, we see her... well, I do not want to give spoilers in this review.
So why did I give this book four stars? Remember: four stars in Goodreads equals "I really liked it." I really liked Mary. She was strong but not ridiculously so -- in fact, there were times when I wished she were even stronger. Or at least more vocal. I liked the setting / atmosphere -- I found myself looking up the places she lived or traveled as well as re-reading books (Boxers and Saints!) and reading up on historical events to gather insights into what was going on in that part of the world. I liked the connection to the view of an expat (the foreign connection mentioned at the start of this review about a ginger tree). I am not an "expat" in the conventional sense of the word (in fact, I consider myself a "lifer"... :-) ), and yet, I have expatriated from my birth country. I can do many things to try and fit in and yet I am an outsider, a foreigner. While having said THAT, I no longer fit in as seamlessly in my home country -- as Mary cannot go home to Scotland, it would be hard for me to return to the USA. I also liked how Oswald Wynd, a man, captured the character of a woman. Men writing about women in 3rd person, is do-able. Writing first person in journal entries... hmm... a bit more challenging. He does it well. Finally, I very much enjoyed our book club discussion. Fascinating takes and insights on the book!
Why not five? The metaphorical and physical journey took too long at times. I did not really like Count Kurihama and a couple of other elements (not telling due to spoilers).
Book Club Book. Did you know that ginger trees do not naturally grow in cities in Japan? Considered an ugly, alien plant that will not give up, the ginger tree comes to symbolize the life and ambitions of Mary Mackenzie.
Written entirely as either journal entries or letters to her mother and/or a friend called Marie, The Ginger Tree tells the story of a young, sheltered, naive -- yet strong! -- young woman at the turn of the 20th century. We journey with her on the road to maturity as well as the road all over the world -- starting on a ship heading to China. On her way we catch glimpses of her backbone. In China, we see her survive a loveless and cold marriage. In Japan, we see her... well, I do not want to give spoilers in this review.
So why did I give this book four stars? Remember: four stars in Goodreads equals "I really liked it." I really liked Mary. She was strong but not ridiculously so -- in fact, there were times when I wished she were even stronger. Or at least more vocal. I liked the setting / atmosphere -- I found myself looking up the places she lived or traveled as well as re-reading books (Boxers and Saints!) and reading up on historical events to gather insights into what was going on in that part of the world. I liked the connection to the view of an expat (the foreign connection mentioned at the start of this review about a ginger tree). I am not an "expat" in the conventional sense of the word (in fact, I consider myself a "lifer"... :-) ), and yet, I have expatriated from my birth country. I can do many things to try and fit in and yet I am an outsider, a foreigner. While having said THAT, I no longer fit in as seamlessly in my home country -- as Mary cannot go home to Scotland, it would be hard for me to return to the USA. I also liked how Oswald Wynd, a man, captured the character of a woman. Men writing about women in 3rd person, is do-able. Writing first person in journal entries... hmm... a bit more challenging. He does it well. Finally, I very much enjoyed our book club discussion. Fascinating takes and insights on the book!
Why not five? The metaphorical and physical journey took too long at times. I did not really like Count Kurihama and a couple of other elements (not telling due to spoilers).
February 7, 2013
I wasn't sure how I would like this book as it takes the form of letters and diary/ journal entries but I was hooked from page 1. Mary carried me from Edinburgh to China and then Japan with her all the way. I am not sure how historically accurate it was but as a portrayal of how young married women were treated in the far east, it moved me. I was so good to read how she survived and grew.
My only criticism is that some times the time lapse were too large and I was left wondering about the missing years.
Highly recommended.
My only criticism is that some times the time lapse were too large and I was left wondering about the missing years.
Highly recommended.
November 6, 2025
One of the best novels I've read in a long time. Mary Mackenzie, the narrator through her notebooks and letters, is one of a kind: sympathetic, impulsive, indiscreet, brave. She suffers terribly for her decisions (I can't ever remember before lying awake worrying about the possible future of a fictional character) but she is a survivor. Following her life history, the reader gets a strong sense of life in early twentieth-century Japan, and of the changes in that country in the period leading up to WW2. But it's always a personal story, and one to remember for a long time.
July 18, 2021
Per leggere la recensione in blog cliccare qui:
https://ilconfinedeilibri.blogspot.co...
https://ilconfinedeilibri.blogspot.co...
August 6, 2019
Wonderful novel set in PEKING and TOKYO
This is one of the few novels I have read twice, it is that good! It is published by Eland Publishing who have a wonderful ethos: “..founded in 1982 to revive great travel books which had fallen out of print. although the list has diversified into biography and fiction, it is united by a quest to define the spirit of a place. These are books for travellers, and for those who are content to travel in their own minds, Eland books ion out our understanding of other cultures, interpret the unknown and reveal different environments as well as celebrating the humour and occasional horrors of travel..”
So, what makes this novel so special? It is written in an incredibly readable style, with engaging humour and acute observation. Each sentence can be savoured as you take a wry look at this part of the world; it is a story told with perspicacity and heartfelt empathy. Mary Mackenzie sets out on the SS Mooldera, in the early 20th Century to meet up with her husband-to-be, Richard Collingsworth, who is based in Peking. Theirs is a cold marriage and he seems little interested in her, save that she should bear him a child. She does indeed sire him a daughter, Jane. Shameful events propel her into a new life, and she uproots herself to Tokyo where she settles in reduced circumstances. She is forced to leave Jane with Richard. Her mother by this time has disowned her and she is cast adrift.
Lovely details of local life are wonderfully recorded. The Empress with whom she has an audience before her life falls apart sits with her nails covered in silver talons more than 30 cms long. A striking but disabling feature that mean she is totally dependent on her staff. The author time and again comes back to the role of women and has Mary befriending a Japanese female agitator later in the book. These really are times when women had to fight for any rights.
It is a fascinating period of history, a time when women are subjugated by society and male dominance. Mary has to navigate her way through an unfamiliar culture and find a way to survive. And survive she does, ending up in one of the big department stores in Tokyo, heading up the fashion department. Japanese women couldn’t get enough of Western fashion and she found a niche that pandered to this trend. After a few setbacks she ploughs forward with her life, determination and stoicism see her through catastrophes and upset.
The story is set just after the Boxer Rising in China and then against the Russo-Japanese War. This is a time when foreigners stood out and often not overtly welcome. As the story progresses further events on the world stage influence the life of the protagonist, right up to WW2. The Kantō Earthquake, for example, is detailed; as it took place at lunchtime the braziers were being used all around the city and thus fires devastated large areas leaving 1.9 million people without shelter.
The story is told through her diary reminiscences and letters she writes to her friends and mother.
She is a survivor and an observer of life from the sidelines. Her story is written with verve, humour and brought to life in wonderful prose. It is a book to savour and enjoy; I am truly appreciative of the excellent writing style. Highly recommended.
This is one of the few novels I have read twice, it is that good! It is published by Eland Publishing who have a wonderful ethos: “..founded in 1982 to revive great travel books which had fallen out of print. although the list has diversified into biography and fiction, it is united by a quest to define the spirit of a place. These are books for travellers, and for those who are content to travel in their own minds, Eland books ion out our understanding of other cultures, interpret the unknown and reveal different environments as well as celebrating the humour and occasional horrors of travel..”
So, what makes this novel so special? It is written in an incredibly readable style, with engaging humour and acute observation. Each sentence can be savoured as you take a wry look at this part of the world; it is a story told with perspicacity and heartfelt empathy. Mary Mackenzie sets out on the SS Mooldera, in the early 20th Century to meet up with her husband-to-be, Richard Collingsworth, who is based in Peking. Theirs is a cold marriage and he seems little interested in her, save that she should bear him a child. She does indeed sire him a daughter, Jane. Shameful events propel her into a new life, and she uproots herself to Tokyo where she settles in reduced circumstances. She is forced to leave Jane with Richard. Her mother by this time has disowned her and she is cast adrift.
Lovely details of local life are wonderfully recorded. The Empress with whom she has an audience before her life falls apart sits with her nails covered in silver talons more than 30 cms long. A striking but disabling feature that mean she is totally dependent on her staff. The author time and again comes back to the role of women and has Mary befriending a Japanese female agitator later in the book. These really are times when women had to fight for any rights.
It is a fascinating period of history, a time when women are subjugated by society and male dominance. Mary has to navigate her way through an unfamiliar culture and find a way to survive. And survive she does, ending up in one of the big department stores in Tokyo, heading up the fashion department. Japanese women couldn’t get enough of Western fashion and she found a niche that pandered to this trend. After a few setbacks she ploughs forward with her life, determination and stoicism see her through catastrophes and upset.
The story is set just after the Boxer Rising in China and then against the Russo-Japanese War. This is a time when foreigners stood out and often not overtly welcome. As the story progresses further events on the world stage influence the life of the protagonist, right up to WW2. The Kantō Earthquake, for example, is detailed; as it took place at lunchtime the braziers were being used all around the city and thus fires devastated large areas leaving 1.9 million people without shelter.
The story is told through her diary reminiscences and letters she writes to her friends and mother.
She is a survivor and an observer of life from the sidelines. Her story is written with verve, humour and brought to life in wonderful prose. It is a book to savour and enjoy; I am truly appreciative of the excellent writing style. Highly recommended.
December 9, 2022
What a wonderful surprise this book has been. I found it second-hand at a library's used book sale, then it sat in my room collecting dust for a year or more. During a frustrating bout of reader's block I picked it up and I immediately entered Mary Mackenzie's reality. That the book consists of Mary's letters and journal entries never feels gimmicky. Instead, this provides such a sense of immediacy and intimacy that I often felt like I was sitting next to Mary as she wrote.
Though she starts off quite a naive twenty-year old, she becomes very much a woman of the world, though not in ways she could ever have initially imagined. Still, she retains some aspects of what seems to be a certain naivete. As she suffers through setbacks and various griefs, then repeatedly manages to adapt to her life's new circumstances and even take bold risks, I realized that she is someone who can compartmentalize (if that's the correct term?) in order to survive. Doing this means she sometimes shelves certain painful aspects of her life so as not to dwell on them. She doesn't forget them, but accepts that she has little to no control over so many things.
Mary is incredibly observant and this is one of her saving graces, something that allows her to know how to interact with various people. She doesn't pity herself (not much, anyhow), accepting the consequences of her decisions, but she does harden, somewhat. As she says in a letter to a friend, she made her bed and she must lie in it, but eventually she is determined to have a better bed.
I like that the latter part of the book contains far fewer journal entries than the beginning and middle sections, and that Mary devotes less time to writing about certain things. This fits with her life story, the journal being something she needs less as she gets older and her life changes so much. Or, perhaps she is choosing to reflect less on certain aspects of life, instead focusing on the day-to-day business of living a life.
The way Wynd, in such a seemingly easy way, takes the reader through great world events and cultural changes, through forty years of a woman's tumultuous life, is so well done, so captivating. I really enjoyed reading this book.
Though she starts off quite a naive twenty-year old, she becomes very much a woman of the world, though not in ways she could ever have initially imagined. Still, she retains some aspects of what seems to be a certain naivete. As she suffers through setbacks and various griefs, then repeatedly manages to adapt to her life's new circumstances and even take bold risks, I realized that she is someone who can compartmentalize (if that's the correct term?) in order to survive. Doing this means she sometimes shelves certain painful aspects of her life so as not to dwell on them. She doesn't forget them, but accepts that she has little to no control over so many things.
Mary is incredibly observant and this is one of her saving graces, something that allows her to know how to interact with various people. She doesn't pity herself (not much, anyhow), accepting the consequences of her decisions, but she does harden, somewhat. As she says in a letter to a friend, she made her bed and she must lie in it, but eventually she is determined to have a better bed.
I like that the latter part of the book contains far fewer journal entries than the beginning and middle sections, and that Mary devotes less time to writing about certain things. This fits with her life story, the journal being something she needs less as she gets older and her life changes so much. Or, perhaps she is choosing to reflect less on certain aspects of life, instead focusing on the day-to-day business of living a life.
The way Wynd, in such a seemingly easy way, takes the reader through great world events and cultural changes, through forty years of a woman's tumultuous life, is so well done, so captivating. I really enjoyed reading this book.
January 4, 2017
This very readable novel tells the story of Mary MacKenzie, taken from her genteel and strict upbringing in Edinburgh to no less strict societies in Japan and China, and how the life changing event of an extra-marital liaison leads to her eventual, partial integration and development in her chosen land. We learn about Eastern attitudes, ambitions and the foretold expansionism of Japan through her personal and diplomatic relationships with a number of strong and diverse characters in the diplomatic and social sphere. Written in 1977, it was possible that some of the early 20th century foresight of Mary about Eastern progress may have been coloured by the hindsight of the author!
The author, a fascinating character wrote this book on the basis of his understanding of Japanese language and culture, his experiences as a child of missionary parents, and his subsequent experience as a prisoner of war. After the war, he vowed never to return, and it is interesting that his apparent antipathy to the Japanese people is not obvious in the book. Indeed, one big attraction of the book for the host was the contrast drawn between the two rigid cultural attitudes in Japan and Scotland. Given that the author was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and he vowed never to go back to Japan, why was the book so sympathetic to Japanese culture? Possibly, the passage of time had mellowed his opinion, and he recalled his happy childhood rather than his war experience.
Technically, the use of letters and diaries to draw out the plot was very effective. Mary was able to introduce the characters quite naturally, and develop them through the story. The author is able to get inside the female character very effectively, writing consistently and honestly….
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
The author, a fascinating character wrote this book on the basis of his understanding of Japanese language and culture, his experiences as a child of missionary parents, and his subsequent experience as a prisoner of war. After the war, he vowed never to return, and it is interesting that his apparent antipathy to the Japanese people is not obvious in the book. Indeed, one big attraction of the book for the host was the contrast drawn between the two rigid cultural attitudes in Japan and Scotland. Given that the author was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and he vowed never to go back to Japan, why was the book so sympathetic to Japanese culture? Possibly, the passage of time had mellowed his opinion, and he recalled his happy childhood rather than his war experience.
Technically, the use of letters and diaries to draw out the plot was very effective. Mary was able to introduce the characters quite naturally, and develop them through the story. The author is able to get inside the female character very effectively, writing consistently and honestly….
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
July 25, 2015
It's a story of a young girl from Edinburgh who goes to China shortly after the Taiping Rebellion to marry a British military attaché, then has an affair with a Japanese aristocrat, is ostracized by the fellow foreigners, loses this and that (don't want to make spoilers), goes to live in Japan, then leaves Japan in the middle of the Pacific War. The end.
It's enjoyable, I suppose, well written and all that, interesting details, but the main character, apparently designed as a strong, resilient woman, does feel quite robotic, as another reviewer has pointed out. Some pretty awful stuff has been done to her, but she forgives the perpetrator in a weirdly catatonic way. After many years she sees him and is like OHAI, is that you? Let's have some sexx0rz! And he did something worse than rape.
Also, she grows to be a fairly unsympathetic person. She likes no one really, has no passion for anything, is highly critical of everyone who is lower than her. Okay she liked her Chinese servant - that was good. Japan and Japanese she dislikes, together with "Japanophiles" - it was a bit refreshing after other Western books which pretty much idolize the culture, but even this dislike was dry and without passion and therefore not that interesting to read about.
And there were quite a few lapses for someone who was born and lived in Japan. "Matsuzakara" instead of "Matsuzakaya" was particularly grating for me, even more so because the Matsuzakaya Store occupies a significant place in the novel.
It's enjoyable, I suppose, well written and all that, interesting details, but the main character, apparently designed as a strong, resilient woman, does feel quite robotic, as another reviewer has pointed out. Some pretty awful stuff has been done to her, but she forgives the perpetrator in a weirdly catatonic way. After many years she sees him and is like OHAI, is that you? Let's have some sexx0rz! And he did something worse than rape.
Also, she grows to be a fairly unsympathetic person. She likes no one really, has no passion for anything, is highly critical of everyone who is lower than her. Okay she liked her Chinese servant - that was good. Japan and Japanese she dislikes, together with "Japanophiles" - it was a bit refreshing after other Western books which pretty much idolize the culture, but even this dislike was dry and without passion and therefore not that interesting to read about.
And there were quite a few lapses for someone who was born and lived in Japan. "Matsuzakara" instead of "Matsuzakaya" was particularly grating for me, even more so because the Matsuzakaya Store occupies a significant place in the novel.
December 14, 2015
Am I the only guy who has read this book?
I grabbed this book on my way out the door, on the way to pick up our son from pre-school. If I arrive early, I wait and read a book. I didn't notice until I had arrived at the school that it was not one of my books, but one of my wife's instead. When I told her what I was reading she said; 'You're not going to like that one'. She said that since I usually read a lot of 'guy' type books. WWII memoirs, travel adventure books, some non-fiction History, mysteries. She was wrong though, I did like it.
I did like, and I liked it a lot. Not well enough for it to be a 'five star' book, but almost. The format used is perfect for this type of long term story. With plenty of period detail without throwing in so much detail that it seems like the author is showing off the amount of research he did in order to make it a History lesson. There are a few things that I found a little bit unbelievable, but not so many that it ruined the book or made it unbearable.
A very cinematic book as well. I know there was a TV mini-series adaptation in the 80's, it seems as though it would be a good candidate for an update for the large screen.
Anyone reading this book should then give it to their boyfriend or husband to read, they just might like it too.
I grabbed this book on my way out the door, on the way to pick up our son from pre-school. If I arrive early, I wait and read a book. I didn't notice until I had arrived at the school that it was not one of my books, but one of my wife's instead. When I told her what I was reading she said; 'You're not going to like that one'. She said that since I usually read a lot of 'guy' type books. WWII memoirs, travel adventure books, some non-fiction History, mysteries. She was wrong though, I did like it.
I did like, and I liked it a lot. Not well enough for it to be a 'five star' book, but almost. The format used is perfect for this type of long term story. With plenty of period detail without throwing in so much detail that it seems like the author is showing off the amount of research he did in order to make it a History lesson. There are a few things that I found a little bit unbelievable, but not so many that it ruined the book or made it unbearable.
A very cinematic book as well. I know there was a TV mini-series adaptation in the 80's, it seems as though it would be a good candidate for an update for the large screen.
Anyone reading this book should then give it to their boyfriend or husband to read, they just might like it too.
April 27, 2017
Set in China and Japan, spanning the period from 1903 to the outbreak of WW2, The Ginger Tree tells the story of young Scottish woman, Mary Mackenzie, who travels to China to marry, then through circumstance is forced to survive alone in an alien East. This was chosen as my book group read and I'm so glad it was, as it was the first I'd heard of author,Oswald Wynd, and The Ginger Tree. At times, through 21st century eyes, I found it difficult to understand decisions taken my Mary, but be in no doubt she is a character ahead of her time - a woman unafraid to flout convention, quietly carving her own path in a world dominated by men. This is a beautifully written novel which offers the reader a glimpse into everyday life in Japan during a period when most eyes were focused on the broader world stage. Scottish stoicism put to the test.
January 26, 2020
This novel, told in dairy format, is one of the best books to read if you want a totally immersive experience. The heroine is a young Scottish woman in 1904 who leaves her home to marry a British military attache in China. And then the story widens and deepens. She has a child, an affair, moves to Japan, has another child, starts a successful clothing store (for Japanese women wanting to wear Western dress) lives thru WW1, the great Tokyo earthquake in 1923, and then WW2 starts. Even though this was written by a British man in 1970 it could have been written today about a fearless, independent and honest woman. Also it paints a fascinating picture of what Japan was like during the early 20th century.
February 6, 2010
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Beautifully written fascinating account of the fall from grace & subsequent struggle to establish a life on her own of a Scottish girl from Edinburgh who goes to China in 1903 to marry a rather stuffy unpleasant British military attache. Mary Mackenzie keeps a diary and the novel follows her very brief cataclysmic affair with a Japanese officer recuperating in China from a wound incurred during the Russo Japanese war, her pregnancy, her banishment by her husband and the closed society she inhabits and her life through the beginning years of World War II as a 'white devil' in Japan. A really fantastic book. I highly recommend it.
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