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Yun Ling has retired from the Malayan Supreme Court, and traveled back to the Cameron Highlands where she had lived during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. She has just been diagnosed with early aphasia, and wants to write down her memories before her mind forgets the past.
Yun Ling and her sister Yun Hong were teenage prisoners in a Japanese prison camp in the Malayan jungle during World War II. Although they had Chinese ancestry, they were admirers of Japanese gardens which they had visited ...more
Yun Ling and her sister Yun Hong were teenage prisoners in a Japanese prison camp in the Malayan jungle during World War II. Although they had Chinese ancestry, they were admirers of Japanese gardens which they had visited ...more
Jul 25, 2012
Penny (Literary Hoarders)
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Comes in second for me in this Booker Prize (#1 is Lighthouse). The descriptions of the gardens, the history behind tattoos was extremely beautiful and the pain and suffering the prisoners in the internment camps endured made for some great reading.
Wow, I just loved this story! I’ve been aware of this book for quite some time but did not add it to my tbr because it looked to be too sad and I’m almost never in the mood for sad. Whilst I shed some tears, the whole feel of the book was more poignant as we are reading of an old woman’s memory of the past. The language was poetic and the author obviously have done some serious research into history and Japanese gardens. Of course, there had to be a twist at the end… am still not sure how I feel
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Deceptively gentle. Packs a punch.
I liked the story. I liked Yun Ling and Aritomo. I think they had something more than friendship. I got confused with the timeline because it seemed to go back and forth between her past and present. I didn't understand what Yun Ling's illness was. I thought it was cancer.
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Jul 26, 2012
Juniper
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Sep 17, 2012
Jayme Pendergraft
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Nov 23, 2012
Susan
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May 15, 2014
Krista
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Aug 04, 2014
Laurie
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Sep 22, 2014
Angelbis
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Dec 08, 2014
Katy
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Nov 29, 2015
Lindsay
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Feb 18, 2016
Sally
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Aug 11, 2016
Debbie Hoffman
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Sep 28, 2018
Anika
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