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.