With ravishing sensuousness, it conjures up the lush landscapes and tea estates of Malaya during the 1950s Emergency, as reflections on Japanese aesthetic refinements in gardening and art intersect with recollections of Japanese wartime atrocities in a haunting novel about memory * * Sunday Times * *
The layering of historical periods is intricate, the descriptions of highland Malaysia are richly evocative, and the characterisation is both dark and compelling. Guarding its mysteries until the very end, this is a novel of subtle power and redemptive grace -- Maya Jaggi, chair of the Man Asian judges
It is impossible to resist the opening sentence of this sumptuously produced novel . . . It showcases Tan Twan Eng as a master of cultural complexities * * Guardian * *
A beautiful, dark and wistful exploration of loss and remembrance, that will stay with you long after reading * * Daily Telegraph * *
Elegant and atmospheric * * The Times * *
An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory . . . its beauty never comes to rest * * Independent * *
Complex and powerful . . . sophisticated and satisfying * * Sunday Times * *
Tantalisingly evocative . . . Suffused with a satisfying richness of colour and character, it still abounds in hidden passageways and occult corners. Mysteries and secrets persist. Tan dwells often on the borderline states, the in between areas, of Japanese art: the archer's hiatus before the arrow speeds from the bow; the patch of skin that a master of the horimono tattoo will leave bare; or the beautiful and sorrowful moment just as the last leaf is about to drop . . . An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory * * Independent * *
War, art and memory join in a subtle story, notable for its ravishing prose, glorious sense of place, and mature alertness to the deceptive vistas of history -- Boyd Tonkin * * Independent * *
This beautifully written book is full of arresting images . . . Achieved with the seemingly effortless poise of a remarkable fictional artistry, Tan Twan Eng's winning novel will be prized by all those who cannot resist the mastery of language * * Good Book Guide * *
