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Noh Fooling This Teacher
After signing a contract to teach history to children of the American Occupation Forces in Nagoya, Japan, Miss Meg Lowe traveled out of Missouri for the first time. After arriving by ship in July, 1949, Meg spent time both in adventurous sight-seeing in the exotic land and in socializing with fellow Americans, both singles and couples. Having grown up with a deputy sheriff dad and his sensitive detective work, her background alerted her to nefarious dealings, sometimes happening at her very feet.
283 pages, Paperback
Published August 9, 2017
366 people want to read
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January 8, 2018
3.5★s
Noh Fooling This Teacher is the second novel by American author, Margery A. Neely. It’s 1949 and Missouri college graduate, Miss Margaret Lowe has just arrived in Nagoya to teach at the school for the children of the American Occupation Forces. It’s all so very different from her home in the Ozarks: as a civilian employee of the Armed Forces, she is subject to a certain set of rules and regulations; then there are the Japanese customs; and the cranky school principal seems to have her own set of rules.
With still some weeks before school starts, Meg helps with unpacking supplies and setting up her classroom, getting to know the other American ex-pats and doing a bit of sight-seeing while the opportunity presents. But after mere days, circumstances and Meg’s incurable inquisitiveness have her stumbling upon a body in the typhoon shelter beneath the school. She tries to put to use the deductive skills learned from her father, a deputy sheriff, but things turn out to be quite a bit more complicated than they first appear.
Neely’s plot is certainly original and, while it is no breathless page-turner, there are twists and red herrings and plenty of action to keep the reader’s attention. Neely easily captures the era: the attitudes, the level of technology, the food, clothing and hair styles, and readers of a certain vintage will find a good deal to reminisce about. Her extensive knowledge of, and personal experience with, post-war Japan is apparent on every page. She manages to include a wealth of interesting information in her story, and only occasionally is it incorporated less than seamlessly.
Young Meg is certainly irrepressible: garrulous and often heading off on a tangent, conversationally. Neely clearly has a love of wordplay, and uses Meg to display her skills in this area. Meg’s curiosity, her sometimes puzzling behaviour and her penchant for practical jokes do draw some criticism. She is admonished by an AP Sergeant: “What impression do you, a member of the Occupation Forces, make upon the Japanese? You are a member of the Occupation Forces, and you are acting like we’re on a college campus ripe for high jinks. Your years of education should have prepared you for fitting into a different culture easily. I was drafted when I graduated high school in ’44, but young as I am, I know how to be dignified in America’s best interests here. Especially now, you are aware that there are delicate, serious matters under investigation.”
Neely’s second novel seems to be a mixture of history, social commentary and, at least initially, cosy mystery. Part One, “Hai Times” could easily be a stand-alone short story. But then the plot becomes more convoluted and more deaths occur. There are quite a lot of characters and significant objects, and close attention to detail is required. Sometimes, the dialogue is a little stiff and formal, a bit wooden, and sometimes, strangely, the sentence construction has the feel of a translated work. Also, here and there, the present tense slips inexplicably into the narrative. But overall, this is an interesting and different read.
With thanks to GoodReads Giveaways for this copy to read and review.
Noh Fooling This Teacher is the second novel by American author, Margery A. Neely. It’s 1949 and Missouri college graduate, Miss Margaret Lowe has just arrived in Nagoya to teach at the school for the children of the American Occupation Forces. It’s all so very different from her home in the Ozarks: as a civilian employee of the Armed Forces, she is subject to a certain set of rules and regulations; then there are the Japanese customs; and the cranky school principal seems to have her own set of rules.
With still some weeks before school starts, Meg helps with unpacking supplies and setting up her classroom, getting to know the other American ex-pats and doing a bit of sight-seeing while the opportunity presents. But after mere days, circumstances and Meg’s incurable inquisitiveness have her stumbling upon a body in the typhoon shelter beneath the school. She tries to put to use the deductive skills learned from her father, a deputy sheriff, but things turn out to be quite a bit more complicated than they first appear.
Neely’s plot is certainly original and, while it is no breathless page-turner, there are twists and red herrings and plenty of action to keep the reader’s attention. Neely easily captures the era: the attitudes, the level of technology, the food, clothing and hair styles, and readers of a certain vintage will find a good deal to reminisce about. Her extensive knowledge of, and personal experience with, post-war Japan is apparent on every page. She manages to include a wealth of interesting information in her story, and only occasionally is it incorporated less than seamlessly.
Young Meg is certainly irrepressible: garrulous and often heading off on a tangent, conversationally. Neely clearly has a love of wordplay, and uses Meg to display her skills in this area. Meg’s curiosity, her sometimes puzzling behaviour and her penchant for practical jokes do draw some criticism. She is admonished by an AP Sergeant: “What impression do you, a member of the Occupation Forces, make upon the Japanese? You are a member of the Occupation Forces, and you are acting like we’re on a college campus ripe for high jinks. Your years of education should have prepared you for fitting into a different culture easily. I was drafted when I graduated high school in ’44, but young as I am, I know how to be dignified in America’s best interests here. Especially now, you are aware that there are delicate, serious matters under investigation.”
Neely’s second novel seems to be a mixture of history, social commentary and, at least initially, cosy mystery. Part One, “Hai Times” could easily be a stand-alone short story. But then the plot becomes more convoluted and more deaths occur. There are quite a lot of characters and significant objects, and close attention to detail is required. Sometimes, the dialogue is a little stiff and formal, a bit wooden, and sometimes, strangely, the sentence construction has the feel of a translated work. Also, here and there, the present tense slips inexplicably into the narrative. But overall, this is an interesting and different read.
With thanks to GoodReads Giveaways for this copy to read and review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review