The ginger tree

by Oswald Wynd

Paper Book, 2002

Publication

New York : Perennial, 2002.

Collection

Highlands

Call number

Fiction W

Physical description

324 p.; 21 cm

Status

Available

Call number

Fiction W

Description

In 1903, a young Scotswoman named Mary Mackenzie sets sail for China to marry her betrothed, a military attachÉ in Peking. But soon after her arrival, Mary falls into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman, scandalizing the British community. Casting her out of the European community, her compatriots tear her away from her small daughter. A woman abandoned and alone, Mary learns to survive over forty tumultuous years in Asia, including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.

Subjects

Adultery Fiction

Illegitimate children Fiction

Japan History 20th century Fiction

Genres

User reviews

LibraryThing member bettyjo

This is a great book of a young woman living in Japan and eventually marrying a Japanese man. He leaves her and takes their child and she has to survive.

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LibraryThing member YOGISMOM

1903 Scotswoman goes to China to marry, but has an affair with a Japanese nobleman. Story goes on to tell how she survives her ostracization.

LibraryThing member LynnB

Mary MacKenzie is a 20-year-old Scottish woman who travels to China to marry a neighbouring man who is posted to the British embassy there. This is the story of her life -- her marriage, affair, ostracization and rebuilding of her life as an independent woman in Japan's patriarchial society.

The

story is told through journal entries and Mary's letters to her mother and her friend, Marie. This style prevented, at times, a deeper analysis or assessment of what what happening around Mary. There is no point of view other than her own, and since she is, essentially, telling her story directly to the reader, it lacks depth or context. Other characters cannot be developed as deeply as I would have liked since they are filtered through ther interactions with Mary.

That being said, her story is an interesting one about love and loss and the consequences of one's actions.

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LibraryThing member repb

A splendid book; an absolutely splendid piece of writingl. A Scottish woman living in Japan during the turbulent part of the early 1900s. Well-written, clever and poignant. I loved it and plan to read more of this fellow's books.

LibraryThing member dbsovereign

Excellent historical novel with the story told in letters and journal entries. The main character is a Scotish woman who marries a diplomat that works in Peking and then has an affair with a Japanese nobleman. What follows is the tale of her struggle to survive as an outcast in a very foreign land

(Japan). Sometimes funny, many times tragic, she perseveres in the face of many obstacles - and with the help/support of some wonderful characters.

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LibraryThing member memccauley6

An epistolary book has to be something really special to keep me reading, I generally don’t like them. This first-person account of Mary MacKenzie’s journey to the Far East at the turn of the 20th century was utterly fascinating. The latter half of the book stretched credulity quite a bit, and

I thought the narrator was a bit too stiff, but it was nonetheless a good read.

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LibraryThing member bookczuk

I'm just going to have to say that I thought I'd really like this book, but the relationship didn't pan out. I got this copy years ago as a gift from my mother, but never took it off the shelf. I finally decided to try it, but it really was flat for me. I like epistolary type stories, but this is

one that for some reason didn't work. I'd hoped for charm as well as history, but instead got a central character I never warmed to. Kinda glad my mom isn't around to find out I didn't fall for the book, though I did learn a few things from it, and from the internet when I looked a couple of items up.

Tags: 2016-read, made-me-look-something-up, not-to-my-taste, read, read-on-recommendation, taught-me-something, thought-i-was-gonna-like

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LibraryThing member niquetteb

I love that this story takes place mainly in Japan, but felt something was missing. There seemed to be a high rating of this novel written in journal and letters from the main character Mary MacKenzie. I wanted to feel and know more about the Japanese characters than what was provided. I'll check

out the Masterpiece Theater presentation of this.

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LibraryThing member sherribrari

the journal format is immediate and compelling. You can feel her mature over time. interesting time period.

LibraryThing member evatkaplan

INTERESTING DIARY OF a young girl from Scotland who marries an English aristocratic soldier stationed in China in 1930's. She begins by writing to her mother but soon writes her diary to herself. has a baby but She is lonely and has an affair with a Japanese man/ soldier/ aristocrat. She becomes an

outcast and breaks relations with her mother and wears the Scarlett letter. she writes of the different cultures of the Chinese, which she loves and the changes happening in China from the 30's to WWI.

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LibraryThing member MarilynKinnon

her compatriots tear her away from her small daughter. A woman abandoned and alone, Mary learns to survive over forty tumultuous years in Asia, including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.

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