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Plum Wine examines human relationships, cultural differences, and the irreparable consequences of war in a story that is both original and timeless.
University of Wisconsin Press
January 2006
Featuring: Barbara Jefferson; Seiji Okada
332 pages ISBN: 0299211606 Hardcover
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Historical
Barbara Jefferson, a young American teaching in Tokyo in the
1960s, is set on a life-changing quest when her Japanese
surrogate mother, Michi, dies, leaving her a tansu of
homemade plum wines wrapped in rice paper. Within the papers
Barbara discovers writings in Japanese calligraphy that
comprise a startling personal narrative. With the help of
her translator, Seiji Okada, Barbara begins to unravel the
mysteries of Michi's life, a story that begins in the early
twentieth century and continues through World War II and its
aftermath. As Barbara and Seiji translate the plum wine papers they
form an intimate bond, with Michi a ghostly third in what
becomes an increasingly uneasy triangle. Barbara is deeply
affected by the revelation that Michi and Seiji are
hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, and
even harder for her to understand are the devastating
psychological effects wrought by war. Plum Wine examines
human relationships, cultural differences, and the
irreparable consequences of war in a story that is both
original and timeless.
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