The Teahouse Fire

An interesting book, but it seems like the author wrote it more to tell about the ins and outs of the tea ceremony than because she had a real story to tell. The narrative was a bit boring, but the images the author created made it worth sticking with.

Listened as an audiobook. I liked the book. I think I bought it because of the 19th century connection--American lost in Japan. That was an interesting narrative device. A bit too neat at the end--back to America, a happy ending with a female love interest. But I thought this was an interesting view on 19th century Japan. Pleasant. Probably no more.

A beautifully written and well paced book set in Japan during the transitional years of the Meiji Restoration (1865-1890). I read it before and during a trip to Japan, and it helped me place so much that I saw and experienced there- aesthetic sensibilities, gift giving and packaging, serious business sense, embracing and rejecting the latest technologies, unease about tradition vs. modernity, etc. Yes, it is somewhat long, and there isn't a lot of action outside the Shin family compound, but well crafted and highly recommended for those with an interest in Japanese culture and society.

The tale of "The Teahouse Fire," by Ellis Avery is set in late nineteenth century Japan. The story plunges deeply into the smoky brew of an entangled relationship, between the daughter of a Japanese Tea Master and a French orphan seeking asylum from a life as a convent domestic. Like the roots of a plum tree, the two girls grow up twisted around each other in an ambiguous context of love and cultural dissonance. Japan edges towards modernism as the characters seek identity and spiritual meaning, in a tragic denouement guaranteed to keep the pages turning.

Improbable but interesting - a 19th century Franco-American girl ends up in Japan with a missionary uncle and ends up running away and is taken in by a family whose fortune lies in the art of tea. Listening to the audiobook, I did have some trouble keeping track of the characters and the politics but I enjoyed it overall.

This book was a great story and also a great lesson in the art of temae (tea). I fell in love with the tradition and ceramony that the main family lives by in this book. The live and story of Urako herself was what seemed to make it a little more exciting. She threw herself into their lives and never looked back at her childhood (as it was so painful.) She has such a range of emotion all the time and it can be felt at times so vividly that it may shake you up a little.
I loved the book and will recommend it to others.

Try as i may, I simply could not make it through this book. It repeatedly described the details of the tea ceremony such that this description appeared to be the main character and Urako's story, thin as it was, filled in the gaps. As a result it was exceedingly boring and I was unable to continue.
Unless a reader is enchanted with the ancient Japanese tea ceremony, I suggest they skip this one.