A layered look into 18th-century Japan

A review of "The Teahouse Fire" by Ellis Avery. I absolutely adored this book, and talked about it on WGBH's "Greater Boston" in July as well. (You can watch that video here.) What struck me most was how layered and nuanced the story is. Avery is a magnificent writer, yes, but the premis itself really struck a chord with me as well.

February 8, 2007

'Teahouse' is a love story infused with Japanese historical detail

By Lylah M. Alphonse, Globe Staff

Orphaned and lonely in a foreign land, 9-year-old Aurelia Bernard enters a Shinto shrine and uses knowledge learned only hours before to change her fate. "I walked into the shrine through the red arch and struck the bell. I bowed twice. I clapped twice. I whispered to the foreign goddess and bowed again. And then I heard the shouts and the fire. What I asked for? Any life but this one."... [More]