Read for Bookclub… started off slow but ended up enjoying more than I thought I would. Strong female character with perspectives that I never would thought of.

The Ginger Tree is an epistolary novel that follows the life of Mary Mackenzie from 1903 to 1942; we travel with Mary from her native Scotland to her new home in China, where her husband-to-be is currently stationed while serving in the British armed forces, and from China to Japan, where Mary flees after she is rejected by the British expatriate community after an adulterous affair with a Japanese nobleman. Mary lives in Japan for many years, until she is forced to leave with other Westerners after Japan enters the war.

The first half of the book was completely engrossing; I was fascinated by Mary's journey to the East, her questioning of Victorian ideals, and her affair. However, the second half of the book dragged a bit, and I found myself skimming some sections. Overall, though, the book is a fantastic piece of historical fiction.

I received this book via care package (thanks to Heather) and had no idea what to expect. It was 100% enjoyable. The main character is a traveler who shares such insights and wisdom regarding traveling that make me feel 'connected' to the world of travels. It is a a story of life, exploring, accepting, changing, overcoming, and being set to the backdrop of Asian culture, conflicts and world conflicts - a fascinating read made even more so while living in an Asian nation.

A few quotes which stuck out:

"Travel seems to put more than distance between you and the people at home, an increasing number of things you have seen and thought about which you can't mention for fear they would shock, and this is really sad." (pg.26)

"In Edinburgh it is easy to believe in Heaven as a reward for the good life carefully lived, but from what I have seen of the Far East I am having doubts of what once seemed certain." (pg. 38)

"She isn't a restful woman to be with, your mind isn't allowed to go slack in her company, and this is what I needed." (pg. 149)

"I sometimes wonder if under the disguises I wear to make myself more bearable to me I am really hard and selfish, pursuing what I want and brushing aside anything that is likely to hinder me in acheiving this." (pg. 168)


"At the back of my mind is the feeling that there is a kind of virtue somewhere in not just being able to walk into a shop to buy a pair of shoes, but having to save for six months before you can re-shoe your feet, perhaps cutting out a meat meal a week in order to manage it." (pg. 221)

"Some days, reading the papers, being forced to accept the truths lying under the exaggerations, I feel like a ghost returned from another age and, as a punishment for distant sins, forced to watch the crumbling away of everything I had once known, and lived in, and believed to be solid forever." (pg. 285)

Llegué a este libro sin saber absolutamente nada de él: desconocía que el autor, hijo de misioneros escoceses, nació en Japón, o que pasó tres años en un campo de prisioneros japonés durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. No sabía tampoco que la primera edición de «El árbol del jengibre» se publicó en 1977. Quizás por eso me sorprendió tanto el retrato que Oswald Wynd hace del pueblo japonés a través de los ojos de su protagonista, Mary Mackenzie. Ella, como el árbol de jengibre de su jardín, resiste todas las vicisitudes que le envía la vida, con un espíritu emprendedor que poco se le intuía al inicio de la novela, cuando se narra su travesía a bordo del vapor que la lleva a China para casarse.

La narración epistolar hace difícil que nos encariñemos con el resto de personajes, y tampoco me ha resultado fácil interesarme por las aventuras de la segunda mitad de la novela, donde en unas pocas páginas transcurren cuarenta años de la vida de la protagonista. Y, pese a ello es esta una buena novela, con un muy buen capítulo final y llena toda ella de sorpresas. Es un viaje por Oriente y por las primeras décadas del siglo XX.

An interesting—and pretty depressing—look at what life was like for a woman on her own in China and Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. I didn’t understand Mary’s relationship with her Japanese lover at all, though, and really couldn’t connect with this detached and remote protagonist.

...I don't know. This is a kind of annoying book because AGAIN the Japanese are treated like this supernatural other. Just because they went from Samurai to a fully industrialized war-declaring-nation in a hundred years does not mean they are freaks of any sort. Ugh. But other than that, it was totally readable.

Interessante o contexto histórico no livro,da visão dos estrangeiros residentes nestes países asiáticos como Japão e China entre 1903 e 1942, saindo de um isolamento e se abrindo para o mundo e cultura ocidental,que causa disturbancias e violência na sociedade local.. Até o "affair amoroso" aqui embora não seja empolgante ,entre uma escocesa e um aristocracia de carreira militar japonês é peculiar, pois mostra a diferença nas visões sobre amor, sexismo, dever e patriotismo ...