The Gardens of Kyoto

What is a memory when it can be tainted or changed by the emotional upheaval of growing up? By grief? Ellen's favorite cousin, killed in the final days of World War II, leaves a lasting impression on her young life and ultimately shapes her future world. Randall's death is profound on multiple levels. He leaves Ellen his diary and a book called The Gardens of Kyoto, his most meaningful possessions. The parallel between the Gardens of Kyoto that fascinated Randall and Ellen's present-day reality is in the illusion: of what is really there before your eyes. Ellen goes through life constantly questioning Randall's influences.
There is a subtle resilience to Walbert's writing; an understated strength and grace to her words.

Kate Walbert is an extraordinary author. She has a way with words, both lyrical and seductive. If she wrote the telephone book, I know that it would be one of the most beautiful books ever written. This is my third novel by Walbert, and each time she amazes me again with the poetry and imagery with which she imbues every story.

Like her other novels I've read, A Short History of Women and Where She Went, The Gardens of Kyoto weaves stories within stories. It is ostensibly a coming-of-age tale during and following the second world war. Ellen is a young girl, growing up in eastern Pennsylvania, in love with her cousin Randall, whom we learn in the first sentence was killed on Iwo Jima. The rest of the book moves back and forth in time, show more mingling their tragic story with that of Ruby and Sterling, Daphne and Gideon, Ellen and John.

The narrative is written in stream of consciousness, jumping from one memory to another as she narrates her history to a person identified only at the the end of the novel. The whole novel moves at a slow pace, there is no rush of action or emotion, no crescendo, and yet it is perfect in this. It is not a story that would lend itself well to a huge reveal or adventure. And this is exactly what I love about it. It is a novel that you read simply for the joy of a beautifully written word. show less

Somehow, this book just became one of my favorites. I bought it while browsing at the bookstore last month. Its beauty is so subtle and pure. I know I'll be thinking about this story (and crying over it) for a while.

The Gardens of Kyoto is a most interesting novel tracing the life of one woman (who narrates the story) from age 11 until middle age. Amy Bloom is quoted on the cover saying "...(the author) guides us from past to present, and from death to life, with affectionate detail and deep understanding." Set mostly in the mid-20th century, it is a rather complex story touching on love, death, the emotional damage of war, and even dipping back into the 19th century to include the underground railway. I would love to have read it straight through.

at first, i thought that she was trying too hard to write in a literary way, but as it got going, i really started enjoying her writing. the story itself was good, but not really what i was looking for in this moment. i might have liked it better if i'd read it some other time, it's hard to say.

I really did not understand this one at all. Large portions of the plot are left hanging and never resolved. Characters do not ring true, whole thing seemed very phony.

Ann Packer rec