The Samurai's garden (1995)
The Samurai's garden is a 1995 man-woman relationships book written by Gail Tsukiyama.
On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's seaside house in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He expects solitude, rest, and clear coastal light to paint by. Instead he is drawn into the lives of the villagers: Matsu, the reserved caretaker who tends a spare and beautiful garden, and Sachi, a woman living apart from the world for reasons the years slowly disclose. Gail Tsukiyama writes in clean, unhurried prose about patience, illness, love, and the quiet dignity of people the world has turned away from.
Quick answers
What is The Samurai's garden about?
On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's seaside house in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He expects solitude, rest, and clear coastal light to paint by. Instead he is drawn into the lives of the villagers: Matsu, the reserved caretaker who tends a spare and beautiful garden, and Sachi, a woman living apart from the world for reasons the years slowly disclose. Gail Tsukiyama writes in clean, unhurried prose about patience, illness, love, and the quiet dignity of people the world has turned away from.
When was The Samurai's garden published?
The Samurai's garden was published in 1995.
Who made The Samurai's garden?
The Samurai's garden was written by Gail Tsukiyama.
Similar books
The Samurai's garden in our writing
- Companion guide: Samurai & Feudal Japan
A few thoughts on The Samurai's garden
Departures, the Japanese film about a man who finds meaning tending to the dead, shares this novel's stillness and its care for people society keeps at a distance. Ryuichi Sakamoto's spare album Async suits the reading too, contemplative music that matches the painter's patient eye and the hush of the garden.