Plum Wine

Name: Plum Wine
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Author: Angela Davis-Gardner
ISBN: 9781436147095

Author: Angela Davis-Gardner

Narrator: Linda Stevens

Unabridged: 11 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC

Published: 02/04/2007

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

Critically acclaimed author Angela Davis-Gardner’s Plum Wine earned starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, which hailed the “wonderfully inventive plot” and a “protagonist as self-possessed as she is sensitive.” Set in 1960s Japan, Plum Wine is a powerful tale about cultural differences, romantic hardships, and the legacy of Hiroshima. An American teaching English in Tokyo, Barbara Jefferson receives an unusual bequest after the death of her colleague and closest friend, Michiko Nakamoto. In a chest are bottles of homemade plum wine, one for each year from 1939 to the present. The paper wrappings on the bottles are covered with Michiko’s life story, so Barbara gets help translating from Michiko’s childhood friend, a man named Seiji. As the two enter a complicated love affair, their fates become tied to the tragedies and secrets of the past. Moving and unforgettable, Plum Wine is elegantly narrated by Jennifer Ikeda, who perfectly captures the novel’s quiet resonance and cultural nuances.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Renee on January 03, 2008

This book is like an oatmeal breakfast: solid, slightly sweet, filling and "good for you." In that sense it wasn't very adventurous or riveting--just got the job done. The pace clipped along, the dialogue sounded authentic and the story about Hiroshima survivors was one I haven't encountered too oft......more

Goodreads review by Carol on February 25, 2015

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It's set in the 60's and is written in the point of view of a Tokyo university teacher, an American newbie to Japan, named Barbara. She lives in Hiroshima and while she pursues a mystery she also slowly uncovers the human legacy of the horrific day the bomb was droppe......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on June 16, 2014

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was such a great find for me, being that I go nuts for stories about Japan, especially about Americans in Japan. This one took place in the 1960's. The main character, Barbara, gets involved with Seiji, a potter who survived the Hiroshima bombing. It's very rom......more

Goodreads review by path on October 22, 2022

I was initially put off that the narrator was an American living in Japan 20(ish) years after the end of WWII because it was through her that the readers receive a picture of Japan and the people who live there. This “Japan” seemed ersatz a copy of the original, a thin description resulting from our......more