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Sophie and the Rising Sun

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 375 ratings · 112 reviews

Salty Creek is a sleepy Georgia town where everyone knows everyone else's business, along with their place in the hierarchy of color, class, and family history. Strangers rarely enter their midst, and a mysterious arrival in the spring of 1939 soon sets tongues wagging.

A quiet, unassuming man with a secret history of his own, Mr. Oto is taken in as a gardener by Miss Anne...more

Kindle Edition, 200 pages

Published (first published 2001)

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Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh

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2nd out of 5 books — 3 voters

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Mar 08, 2012 Jacqueline rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-historical-not-old-west, fiction-wall, kindle-reads, netgalley

Lovely sweet story of two 50somethings finding love at the start of the second world war. The hero was an extremely mild mannered man of Japanese descent and the heroine was a spinster who had spent her whole life looking after her mother and aunts. Most of the story was told through the eyes of the hero. I really enjoyed how he felt so much for the heroine without even really knowing her. And after they met, he really treated her like a princess. I loved the description of the painting that he...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, historical-romance

To describe this novel simply as a quaint, old-fashioned love story would be an injustice and complete misrepresentation of the deeper issues presented throughout. Trobaugh has presented us with a story not simply of love, but also one filled with cultural symbolism and folktales, racial prejudices, and a world at war. Told primarily from the view point of elderly Miss Anne, Trobaugh has captured the essence of southern storytelling at its best with just enough southern dialect to provide a sens...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Pamela Pickering rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: women of all ages

Shelves: favorites

If you're looking for a gentle, heartwarming love story this is the story for you. Don't expect any hot sex scenes. lust, or strife, just the tender approach of love for an unlikely couple. The story is well written and can be read quickly--a good choice for a rainy day. It's too bad they don't write stories like this anymore. Quite a gem!

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Dec 08, 2012 Tracey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wwii

I had no idea what to expect from this Netgalley book. I knew the synopsis - basically that a middle-aged spinster forms a friendship, perhaps more, with the Japanese gardener working for a friend right at the onset of America's involvement in WWII; that could go any number of ways.

The way Sophie and the Rising Sun went was utterly beautiful. Mr. Oto - and that is all I'm going to call him, as his given name deserves the reveal it gets - is a lovely, lovely character, a man who has done a bit o...more I had no idea what to expect from this Netgalley book. I knew the synopsis - basically that a middle-aged spinster forms a friendship, perhaps more, with the Japanese gardener working for a friend right at the onset of America's involvement in WWII; that could go any number of ways.

The way Sophie and the Rising Sun went was utterly beautiful. Mr. Oto - and that is all I'm going to call him, as his given name deserves the reveal it gets - is a lovely, lovely character, a man who has done a bit of drifting and is mildly startled to find himself fifty years old and gardening in Georgia. Sophie is a woman who has spent her entire life tending to the old ladies in her life, her mother and two elderly aunts, and now that they have all passed on she is doing some drifting of her own, continuing in the same direction like an object in motion remaining in motion without any outside influence. As the two drift together, something happens.

If this had been all there was to the story - a gently growing connection between two people of different races and very different backgrounds - it would have been a good book. Placing a significant step in the growth of the relationship on the morning of December 7, 1947 helped push it over into something beyond good. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor comes, instantaneously, a rage against the Japanese or anyone who might be Japanese which ... sadly, which is reminiscent of the backlash against anyone perceived as Muslim in the time right after 9/11. A layer is peeled back from the soft and gentle Southern way of life, and what lies underneath is dangerous. Suddenly the town busybody, Ruth, is more than just a plaguey nuisance: she is a very real threat to not only what is emerging between Sophie and Mr. Oto but to their safety. Theirs, and that of anyone who helps them.

There is a rather Asian feel to the story-telling, elegant and reserved, echoing the description of Mr. Oto's painting (one of those fictional pieces I'd love to be able to see). This is no ordinary romance novel where two people begin tearing each other's clothes off twelve minutes after they meet. The romance at its heart is gentler, harking back to older novels in the quiet intensity of feeling. Loved it.(less)

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Apr 17, 2012 Melanie Coombes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a very short, sweet love story. It starts out slowly and is mainly told by Miss Anne.
Miss Anne is an older woman who lives in the small Georgia town on the eve of WWII. She is telling us about Mr. Oto, a Japanese-American, who used to be her gardener. Mr. Oto quietly works and keeps to himself, until the day he meets the local spinster, Sophie. (I never quite figured out Sophie's age, but she is older and never married.) Over the course of time, Sophie and Mr. Oto meet once a week to pai...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Author: Augusta Trobaugh
Title: Sophie and the Rising Sun
Description : This is a short novel, close to a novella, set in Georgia in 1941. When Miss Anne’s oriental gardener and Miss Sophie begin to become friends, not only do they face their racial differences, but their age—and the beginning of WWII.
Review source: Library Thing Early Reviewers
Plot: Nothing mind-blowing. Two people who think they have missed love somehow find it, in the worst of all possible circumstances. Complicated by the chur...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Readersentertainment rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the years preceding America's entry into World War II, a quiet Georgia town called Salty Creek is home to a peculiar and risky romance.
For quite some time, only polite and brief exchanges were ever had between a spinster named Sophie and Miss Anne's courteous and enigmatic “Chinese” gardener, Mr. Oto. Miss Anne, a moral woman whose memories of the event are at the center of this tale, provides Oto with refuge after he arrives, disgraced, starving, and essentially dropped from a Greyhound bus...more In the years preceding America's entry into World War II, a quiet Georgia town called Salty Creek is home to a peculiar and risky romance.
For quite some time, only polite and brief exchanges were ever had between a spinster named Sophie and Miss Anne's courteous and enigmatic “Chinese” gardener, Mr. Oto. Miss Anne, a moral woman whose memories of the event are at the center of this tale, provides Oto with refuge after he arrives, disgraced, starving, and essentially dropped from a Greyhound bus, in Salty Creek. Then, Oto notices Sophie and begins to fall in love. Sophie, whose own true love was lost in World War I, has settled on leading a dull and miserable existence following the death of her female family members for whom she cared. But somehow she is drawn to Mr. Oto. Love always seems to find us when we are not searching...
...Eventually, a strong friendship develops between them. While the rest of the townspeople attend church services on Sunday, Sophie and Oto sit quietly by the river and paint. Both recognize the unconventional nature of their relationship and proceed with precaution as a result. Yet the passion they feel for each other slowly rises to the surface, just in time for hell to be unleashed.
Oto, who is only mistaken by the simple townspeople for someone of Chinese ancestry, is actually Japanese by descent (though he is California-born), and when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, he is forced into hiding to escape the onslaught of misguided aggression and, in some cases, unadulterated hatred. Now, Sophie and Miss Anne provide what they can to sustain Oto, but will it be enough, or are the divisions caused by war too great for them to bear?
Sophie and the Rising Sun is a romance that deals with the problems of racial tensions and gives us an account of love's power to overcome even seemingly insurmountable obstacles, such as great disparities in age or ancestry. The novel is the most recent release from Augusta Trobaugh, whose stories have a lot to offer for those readers who can never get enough of romance. Sophie and the Rising Sun is pleasant and simple to read, but there is a certain intricacy to the plot. Perhaps it is the story's ability to grapple with some difficult topics, or maybe it is the nearly poetic innocence of Sophie and Oto's blossoming love (even in spite of its seeming so uncharacteristic). Whatever the reason, if you happen to be a fan of romance, you do not want to pass up Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh, available in bookstores everywhere.(less)

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Aug 08, 2010 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed, set-in-the-south

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Given to me by a friend from Spirit Moves to read. Most of the reviews seem to classify this as a gentle little love story. Love story, yes. Gentle? I'm not so sure, because I, for one, can't really glean the ending of the story. There are several secrets in this book and the answer to the final one isn't all that clear to me.

The story takes place in a small coastal town in Georgia just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The gardener of a town matron (Miss Anne) is a quiet fellow named Mr Oto....more Given to me by a friend from Spirit Moves to read. Most of the reviews seem to classify this as a gentle little love story. Love story, yes. Gentle? I'm not so sure, because I, for one, can't really glean the ending of the story. There are several secrets in this book and the answer to the final one isn't all that clear to me.

The story takes place in a small coastal town in Georgia just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The gardener of a town matron (Miss Anne) is a quiet fellow named Mr Oto. He is an American, of Japanese descent, though the town believes him to be Chinese. How he got to a small town in Georgia, from his home in California, is revealed through a back-story. He keeps pretty much to himself, but has found himself admiring, from afar, the town spinster, Sophie. Sophie's life might have taken a different track, had she not had to care for her mother and aging aunts, or had the man she loved, actually loved her back, and actually survived The Great War. In her middle years, she finds herself entering into a gentle friendship with the equally disappointed in life and love Mr Oto. They paint together, and share quiet beauties of the world around them. Each grows to love the other. But as this friendship grows into love, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and Mr Oto has to flee Salty Creek, for his own safety and for the safety of those who have befriended him.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****
There are a lot of secrets in this book: Mr Oto's heritage, where he is hiding, if Sophie's love actually loved her back, and ultimately, what happened to Sophie and Mr Oto. Metaphors abound in the book: the Japanese Crane that appears to Mr Oto, the little pink dogwood trees in Miss Anne's garden, the stuffed birds of her mother's that Sophie kept in small box, hurricanes, winds, the sea. I just find that I'm not 100% clear about how the story ended. Most people seem to think that Mr Oto and Sophie actually ran away together. But I have my doubts. He made a sacrifice to the sea, she to the winds. They may have been together at the end, but how the heck did they get away anywhere in the middle of the floods and winds of a hurricane. And if they did get away, they still have a myriad of problems of a mixed union at such a volatile time in our history. They would be welcome nowhere. Maybe the sea claimed them and swept their bodies so far out that they weren't washed up on shore anywhere. Maybe they escaped and started a life together. I'm just not sure. And the only person left in the story who might know, Big Sally, got bashed on the head with a blow hard enough to turn her bitter to nice and help her forget the secrets she kept. (less)

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Dec 26, 2011 Jenna Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

Wonderful - The Help Meets Nicholas Sparks

This story is a wonderful, lovely tale. I instantly liked Sophie, Miss Anne, Mr. Oto and was drawn into their world. Miss Ruth is portrayed in a perfectly nasty way. Well done. Queen Sally was fun and I only wish she had a bigger part in the book.

If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks and his soft, sometimes gushy, love stories, I suggest you try Sophie and the Rising Sun. While Mr. Sparks can leave us with a face full of tears, I was left with a smile aft...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, historic-fiction, standalone, wwii

I was excited to see an Asian male/white female (amwf, as it’s known online) story pop up on Netgalley. They can be hard to find, and I thought the dual extra setting of the racist rural south and WWII would make it more interesting. I still don’t doubt that these positive things are what the author was going for, but it didn’t quite come through for me in the story.

Trobaugh picked an interesting writing structure that I found worked well for the story. It’s a mix of an elderly Miss Anne relatin...more I was excited to see an Asian male/white female (amwf, as it’s known online) story pop up on Netgalley. They can be hard to find, and I thought the dual extra setting of the racist rural south and WWII would make it more interesting. I still don’t doubt that these positive things are what the author was going for, but it didn’t quite come through for me in the story.

Trobaugh picked an interesting writing structure that I found worked well for the story. It’s a mix of an elderly Miss Anne relating her part of the story of what she saw occur between Sophie and Mr. Oto and an omniscient third person narration. There were also some truly beautiful sequences in the book.

I am disappointed then that I felt the story itself didn’t live up to the writing. Trobaugh falls prey to some stereotyping tropes.

In spite of falling for a white woman, everything else about Mr. Oto is stereotype 101 for Asian-American men. He is: quiet, reserved, effeminate, painfully polite, and bows all the time. The bowing really bothered me, because Mr. Oto was born in America to first generation immigrant parents. I don’t know any first generation Americans who hold on to societal norms from their parents’ country around anyone but their family.

The other minority character is “Big Sally.” She is, surprise surprise, domestic help. Anyone who was here for The Real Help Reading Project will be aware of all the stereotypes surrounding black women domestic workers. The main one being of course that they’re happy to be the help and will gladly help out white women who are kind to them with their problems. Kind of the all-knowing wise woman who just so happens to scrub your floors. I was truly saddened to see Sally show up and play this role to a T.

Overall then, Trobaugh can indeed write. The book was highly readable and contains some eloquent passages. In spite of attempting a progressive message, though, the book falls to the easier method of plugging in a couple of stereotyped, two-dimensional characters. I hope in future works Trobaugh will put more work into developing truly three-dimensional minority characters. This will strengthen her work and make it more than just a piece of chick lit repeating the same old tropes.

Check out my full review. (Link will be live July 12, 2012).(less)

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Jul 25, 2008 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is nothing better than just stumbling upon a book while perusing at the library, knowing nothing about it, and discovering that you have found a gem. That’s how it was with this one—Sophie and the Rising Sun, which I only picked up because my daughter’s name was in the title. It turned out to be such a lovely story. It’s a quick read—only about 200 pages—perfect for a rainy day.

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Dec 30, 2011 Shari Larsen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very moving story about an extraordinary love and a town's prejudice during World War II. Set in the sleepy town of Salty Creek, Georgia, where strangers are rare, an unassuming stranger arrives; a quiet, Japanese man in his 50's, with secrets of his own. He becomes a new beginning for lonely Sophie, who lost her first love during World War I. She has resigned herself to a life of living alone, but that changes when she meets Mr. Oto. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Mr. Oto's newfound lif...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Dixiane Hallaj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh is an exquisitely told tale set in a small Georgia town, complete with the standard righteous town busybody and all the prejudices of small towns in the Deep South in the early 1940s. Mr. Oto, a “foreign” man, arrives half-starved and becomes Miss Anne’s “Chinese” gardener. Mr. Oto and Sophie, a “real lady” who never had a chance at love, slowly develop a relationship as delicate and beautiful as the bird’s wing in the Japanese folk tale that is skil...more

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Dec 03, 2008 Dlora rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, general-fiction

Set in the deep South with all its prejudices and charm in 1939, this is a story about a love that develops gently and sweetly between Mr. Oto, a middle-aged Japanese gardener, and Sophie, a spinster daughter just released from her diligent care of her domineering mother and two aging aunts when they pass away. Sophie and Mr. Oto's slowly evolving love story is complicated by the attack on Pearl Harbor and the implications for Mr. Oto as a foreigner. "I'm an American," he asserts but his facial...more

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Apr 11, 2012 CeeAnne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was drawn to this book as I am to most stories that involve the immigrant struggle during World War II. It's a very sweet love story, and I adored Mr. Oto. Who wouldn't adore Mr. Oto? I think that's one of the reasons I was ultimately disappointed. I wanted closure on his story. This novel needed more development in my opinion, more time with Sophie and Mr. Oto when they finally connected and more resolution at the ending. There were several things that were just left. It felt very incomplete....more

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Dec 31, 2012 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a treat to wrap up 2012 with a five-star book! This tender book was utterly delightful. It's the gentle love story between an old Southern spinster and a Japanese gardener around the start of WWII.

There were so many wonderful things going on simultaneously in this book--the side stories were as touching as the main one. The character of Miss Anne was my favorite--we all need a Miss Anne in our lives!

I feel torn about the author's use of point-of-view--she moved back and forth between firs...more

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May 02, 2012 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early-reviewers

Wanted a bit more development in the relationship between Sophie and Mr. Oto. Also, I felt like I missed out a lot of Sophie's life before Mr. Oto came into the picture. The author went into quite some detail about Sophie's younger years, but then there wasn't so much in the years after her aunts and mother died. There was even less about Mr. Oto's life. Wanted to now more about the mystery of Sophie's past relationship and also Mr. Oto's past relationship.

There was some nice imagery in places.

I...more

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May 10, 2012 Nada rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other-review-copies

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com...

Sophie and the Rising Sun is a story of World War II - specifically of World War II right as the attack on Pearl Harbor happens. It is a story of that time but set in a small Georgia town. As such, it is period piece about the American South.

Sophie is the town spinster with an overpowering mother and a lost love in her background. Ms. Anne is the one in town not afraid to do things a little differently. Ms. Ruth is the to...more

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Aug 14, 2009 Susan Burnongham rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In 1943 a mysterious stranger aarriver sin Salty Creek, Georgia. Mr. Oto, a quiet, unassuming, ,an beomes a gardner for Sophie, who lost her love during World War I. Sophie has resigned herself to a life craing for her aging mother and aging maiden aunts. I agonized until Miss Sophie and Mr. Oto finally speak. To Mr. Oto, whose heart has been full from the moment he saw Sophie,it is a miracle. When the Japanese bomb Peral Harbor, Mr. Oto's new found life comesunder seige. Is any joy possible for...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Diane S. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5 Mr Otto is a middle aged man of Japanese ethnicity,although he was born in California and considers himself an American. Sophie is a middle aged spinster, having taken care of her mother and than her elderly aunts, and losing her first love in World War I. Taking place in a small town in Georgia, this is not a passionate love affair but a rather elegant one as is the writing in this novel. When Pearl Harbor is bombed all the small town stereotypes as well as the usual prejudices come into pl...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Winter Thibodeaux rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked the idea of this book, but it could have been more exciting. It seemed to drag on, and on, and on! of course, that could have also been because I was reading it during midterms. :P However, I do think it should have had a little more action in it. It seemed to me that most of the book was taken up describing their surroundings, and what people where gossiping about than it did about the characters' histories. All in all, it was a good story, I don't feel like I completely wasted my time...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Janyne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars. The author tried to tackle some big issues with varying degrees of success. I expected more from an award winning author.

I felt that the book was marred by some odd-ball choices that the author made. Planting marigolds in October and tending them in late December? A hurricane that never happened. Not recognizing a childhood friend? And how naive/sheltered could a 50 year old man be?

Also, he remembers his Japanese grandmother's bound feet. Foot binding was a Chinese practice...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Rose Cimarron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, kindle-free-books, amazon, reviewed, wordpress-reviewed, romance, 2012

You never quite knew where this was going to head next, but each destination and waypoint where just right.
A delight.

I liked the changing story-teller; it gave a fresh view on the action and deeper understanding of the characters. This device made the ending work far better than a simple third-person telling would have managed.

The characters were delicately and exquisitely drawn - just like the Crane-Wife. The conflict between personal and public opinions and actions that characterises this book...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Tara Chevrestt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, world-war-2, netgalley, kindle, japanese-history-culture

I am really torn about this book. One one hand, I see a beautiful love story... Oto loves Sophie right away, and his is a beautiful love. There nothing even remotely ugly about Oto. His love isn't one of those, "Oh my manhood stirred at the sight of her and I imagined myself.." kind of loves. His love is pure, his character innocent and naive. Sophie, too, has a clean love for Otto.

On the other hand, where the heck is this love coming from? Oto sees her and from then on, it's all about this wei...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Priscilla Melchior rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From the book cover: "In sleepy Salt Creek, Georgia, strangers are rare. When a quiet unassuming stranger arrives �� a Japanese man with a secret history of his own �� he becomes the talk of the town and a new beginning for a lonely Sophie, who lost her first love during World War I."

It looks like "Sophie and the Rising Sun," originally published more than 10 years ago, has been re-issued by its publisher in anticipation of a new novel from Trobaugh. I'll be interested to see what I think of t...more

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Aug 20, 2012 MissSusie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, southern-fiction, reviewed

I am not sure what I was expecting when I started this book but what I got was a beautiful chaste love story between southern belle Sophie and Japanese American Mr. Oto. This was a beautifully written look at the south during the time of Pearl Harbor and everything changed for Mr. Oto and the women in his life his boss Miss Ann and his friend (and woman he loves) Miss Sophie. But this was so much more than a love story; it’s a friendship story and also a historical look at a very tough time espe...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Brandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: artists-and-writers, southern, my-reviews, 20th-century-historical

"Sophie and the Rising Sun" by Augusta Trobaugh is a bit like a haiku in novel form: brief, beautiful, full of symbolism and complex for its simplicity. It is romantic in the very best way, pitting the idealism of love against the cold realities of circumstance.

Told in various viewpoints, the story places a not-quite-hopeless spinster and a middle-aged Japanese-American gardener in a small Southern town on the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The author chose her setting in which dangerous pre...more

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Nov 03, 2008 bookyeti rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, reviewed

delicate as a paper crane

Simply, yet beautifully, written and poignant, Sophie and the Rising Sun — a narrative, in the plaintive voice of various characters — takes place in a sleepy southern town in Georgia.

Sophie, a refined southern lady and middle-aged spinster, finds she has depleted her “young and beautiful years” caring for her elderly mother and aunts, after her beau, Henry, never returned from WWI. Finds herself quite resigned to the idea of never finding love at her age, Sophie, finds...more delicate as a paper crane

Simply, yet beautifully, written and poignant, Sophie and the Rising Sun — a narrative, in the plaintive voice of various characters — takes place in a sleepy southern town in Georgia.

Sophie, a refined southern lady and middle-aged spinster, finds she has depleted her “young and beautiful years” caring for her elderly mother and aunts, after her beau, Henry, never returned from WWI. Finds herself quite resigned to the idea of never finding love at her age, Sophie, finds solace in painting by the town’s beautiful river, and meeting with her dear friend Miss Anne — that is, until Grover Oto moves into town, under mysterious circumstances.

Gentlemanly and kind, Mr. Oto, an American-born man of Japanese decent, is soon commissioned as Miss Anne’s gardener. Despite being limited to mere greetings in passing, Oto and Sophie form a suppressed friendship. Discovering they both share a passion for creating art, they meet weekly at the river, painting in comfortable silence as their connection to each other flourishes. However, between the antics of Ruth - the prejudiced town meddler - and the rigid racial and social structure of the time, it is almost guaranteed that the unconventional duo of Sophie and Mr. Oto will be expected to keep a formal distance. Forced into hiding from the enraged townsfolk, after the Pearl Harbour bombing, Oto experiences the full consequences of the attack, as Sophie and Miss Anne courageously support him. Will he and Sophie ever be able to realize their true feelings for each other, in a society that is so obstinate regarding their cultural differences?

Through the words and reactions of her characters, the author offers a unique perspective of the events at Pearl Harbor. In its own way, the entire substance of the novel serves as a social commentary on the war’s psychological fall-out — including the malicious treatment (thinly veiled as patriotism) of Japanese immigrants, American citizens, living in United States.

And yet, the elegiac cadences of Trobaugh’s prose, coupled with her tender imagery and ambiance, adds an emotional richness to this touching account. Lovely for a light, but unforgettable, weekend read, Sophie and the Rising Sun is highly recommended.(less)

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Sep 11, 2008 Kellie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2006-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 01, 2012 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL READ. SOUTHERN FICTION AT IT'S FINEST. A STORY OF LOVE LOST AND FOUND, PREJUDICE AND BIGOTRY, AND FINDING THE COURAGE IN ONE'S HEART TO DO THE RIGHT AND HONORABLE THING. SET IN GEORGIA AT THE START OF WORLD WAR II, IT IS THE STORY OF A SOUTHERN BORN AND BRED LADY AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH A LOWLY JAPANESE GARDNER TAKING PLACE AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT IN HISTORY FOR THE TWO OF THEM. I GIVE THIS MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!

THIS IS THE SECOND NOVEL I'VE READ BY...more

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