She remains in Japan until when the book ends. Over the years Mary experiences all sorts of traumas and trials and ends up making a very good life for herself in Japan, becoming financially independent, which I imagine was a most unusual accomplishment for any woman of that time, let alone a European one in pre-war Japan. So the story is relatively trite, and the characters are fairly predictable, but the best thing about the book is the insight we get into pre-war Chinese and Japan society and how Europeans fitted in or didn't.

I found it difficult to completely engage with this story, mainly due to its style of narration. Mary sends letters to her mother in Scotland and to a French woman whom she met when living in China. The rest of the story is via diary entries. So we have a very personal and intimate narration style, but I felt very detached from Mary and how her life was unfolding. I almost felt like an observer rather than a confidante of her. Nevertheless a good read which gives a good insight into a society and time most people would know little about. Feb 08, Marija rated it it was amazing.

This is the kind of book that unfolds like a delectable seven-course meal. Not too rich and everything cooked to perfection. The characters are well-drawn, and sense of place is unforgettable. What I love about this book is how it shows opportunities and decisions conspire to shape one's life, but outside forces will intrude. We are never truly in control of our own lives. Natural disasters, political forces, and people we randomly meet will change our lives for good and bad.

The plot of this bo This is the kind of book that unfolds like a delectable seven-course meal. It hits all the major themes: View all 3 comments. Aug 29, Monthly Book Group rated it really liked it. This very readable novel tells the story of Mary MacKenzie, taken from her genteel and strict upbringing in Edinburgh to no less strict societies in Japan and China, and how the life changing event of an extra-marital liaison leads to her eventual, partial integration and development in her chosen land.

We learn about Eastern attitudes, ambitions and the foretold expansionism of Japan through her personal and diplomatic relationships with a number of strong and diverse characters in the diplomat This very readable novel tells the story of Mary MacKenzie, taken from her genteel and strict upbringing in Edinburgh to no less strict societies in Japan and China, and how the life changing event of an extra-marital liaison leads to her eventual, partial integration and development in her chosen land.

We learn about Eastern attitudes, ambitions and the foretold expansionism of Japan through her personal and diplomatic relationships with a number of strong and diverse characters in the diplomatic and social sphere. Written in , it was possible that some of the early 20th century foresight of Mary about Eastern progress may have been coloured by the hindsight of the author!

The author, a fascinating character wrote this book on the basis of his understanding of Japanese language and culture, his experiences as a child of missionary parents, and his subsequent experience as a prisoner of war. After the war, he vowed never to return, and it is interesting that his apparent antipathy to the Japanese people is not obvious in the book.

Indeed, one big attraction of the book for the host was the contrast drawn between the two rigid cultural attitudes in Japan and Scotland. Given that the author was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and he vowed never to go back to Japan, why was the book so sympathetic to Japanese culture? Possibly, the passage of time had mellowed his opinion, and he recalled his happy childhood rather than his war experience. Technically, the use of letters and diaries to draw out the plot was very effective. Mary was able to introduce the characters quite naturally, and develop them through the story.

The author is able to get inside the female character very effectively, writing consistently and honestly…. This is an extract from a review at http: Our reviews are also to be found at http: Nov 15, Nancy rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is by far the most interesting book I have read this year. The joy of participating in a book club is that you are often introduced to a book you would not find on your own, and that was precisely the case with this novel. It was very apparent, early on, that this was going to be a rough ride for our protagonist This is by far the most interesting book I have read this year.

It was very apparent, early on, that this was going to be a rough ride for our protagonist and the portents were certainly accurate. The magic of The Ginger Tree is that the reader is able to experience, and feel, so much through this one story: If it sounds operatic, perhaps it is.

But, I was totally entranced by the forty year journey we travel with this woman and her pragmatic and stoic approach to her life with virtually no family or support system to sustain her. I love novels about the restraints society places on women and how they struggle within them. This woman didn't whine. And, she didn't compromise. This should be required reading for all young women. It is not a candy-coated tale of love and success; it is a starkly realistic story about life, love and survival. It is a wonderful book. Nov 20, Peter rated it it was amazing Shelves: Am I the only guy who has read this book?

I grabbed this book on my way out the door, on the way to pick up our son from pre-school. If I arrive early, I wait and read a book. I didn't notice until I had arrived at the school that it was not one of my books, but one of my wife's instead. When I told her what I was reading she said; 'You're not going to like that one'.

She said that since I usually read a lot of 'guy' type books.

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WWII memoirs, travel adventure books, some non-fiction History, mysteries. She was wrong though, I did like it. I did like, and I liked it a lot.

Not well enough for it to be a 'five star' book, but almost. The format used is perfect for this type of long term story. With plenty of period detail without throwing in so much detail that it seems like the author is showing off the amount of research he did in order to make it a History lesson. There are a few things that I found a little bit unbelievable, but not so many that it ruined the book or made it unbearable. A very cinematic book as well.

I know there was a TV mini-series adaptation in the 80's, it seems as though it would be a good candidate for an update for the large screen. Anyone reading this book should then give it to their boyfriend or husband to read, they just might like it too. Apr 27, Rae rated it liked it.

Set in China and Japan, spanning the period from to the outbreak of WW2, The Ginger Tree tells the story of young Scottish woman, Mary Mackenzie, who travels to China to marry, then through circumstance is forced to survive alone in an alien East. This was chosen as my book group read and I'm so glad it was, as it was the first I'd heard of author,Oswald Wynd, and The Ginger Tree. At times, through 21st century eyes, I found it difficult to understand decisions taken my Mary, but be in no d Set in China and Japan, spanning the period from to the outbreak of WW2, The Ginger Tree tells the story of young Scottish woman, Mary Mackenzie, who travels to China to marry, then through circumstance is forced to survive alone in an alien East.

At times, through 21st century eyes, I found it difficult to understand decisions taken my Mary, but be in no doubt she is a character ahead of her time - a woman unafraid to flout convention, quietly carving her own path in a world dominated by men. This is a beautifully written novel which offers the reader a glimpse into everyday life in Japan during a period when most eyes were focused on the broader world stage.

Scottish stoicism put to the test. Feb 05, Kyra rated it really liked it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Mary Mackenzie keeps a diary and the novel follows her very brief cataclysmic affair with a Japanese officer recuperating in China from a wound incurred during the Russo Japanese war, her pregnancy, her banishment by her husband Loved it, loved it, loved it. Mary Mackenzie keeps a diary and the novel follows her very brief cataclysmic affair with a Japanese officer recuperating in China from a wound incurred during the Russo Japanese war, her pregnancy, her banishment by her husband and the closed society she inhabits and her life through the beginning years of World War II as a 'white devil' in Japan.

A really fantastic book. I highly recommend it. I'll start saying that the author, Oswald Wynd was born and grew up in Japan and long after, he was a Japanese prisoner of war, this means he has some kind of a grudge against Japanese people, even if he respects them. You can feel it all over the book, the first person knowledge of a Country, of a population, their ways and their mentalities, I think that, until now he was the best to describe Japanese way of thinking and the sudden and deep change in their ways after , their strong nationa I'll start saying that the author, Oswald Wynd was born and grew up in Japan and long after, he was a Japanese prisoner of war, this means he has some kind of a grudge against Japanese people, even if he respects them.

You can feel it all over the book, the first person knowledge of a Country, of a population, their ways and their mentalities, I think that, until now he was the best to describe Japanese way of thinking and the sudden and deep change in their ways after , their strong national feeling and their, if not hate, low tolerance for foreigners.

Also I loved very much the details of it all, going from dresses to buildings, to gardens, to burial ceremonies, it made me feel really there. Also, the book is written in a form of diary's entries interrupted only by Mary's letters, which is not really a captivating style, and he has the habit to make very long temporal jumps, and I'm talking about years and that makes things a little confusing. Beside that I've bought this book for the setting, of course, but because, for once, I'd have liked to read a good romance but I was disappointed, there is almost no romance, the character have not been developed enough on this part, not to mention Wynd's habit to only mention events that are important for the plot without further writing about them.

Which has been very disappointing for me. So, recommended for the detailed settings and the sincere description of another country's mentality, not recommended for characters development and romance.


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Also, if you don't like diary's stile writing please don't read it. Thank you Bernadette for recommending this book last year. I finally got around to reading it and I am so glad that I did.

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It's been a while since I have been able to get lost in a book with a fascinating subject and a wonderful character who had to endure so much just to survive. It brought back Japan to me and all that Mary MacKenzie went through was just the icing on the cake for me. I can't recommend this book enough. It would be an outstanding choice for a bookclub. There are some great moments in this, and I love the world it evokes.


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The prose is often denser than I prefer though, and I think it would have been more enjoyable if that had been thinned a bit in some spots. I think it does the Forest Gump moments of history thing too, which comes off as a gimmick where that occurs. On the whole very nicely done though.

J ai adore ce livre.!!! Apr 30, Donna LaValley rated it liked it. An outline of the story creates great anticipation, but the actual book disappoints the reader. In the first year, she has a child, is unhappy and this is not a spoiler because this info is printed on the back of the book begins an illicit affair with a Japanese general. For her scandal, she is removed from European society and separated An outline of the story creates great anticipation, but the actual book disappoints the reader. For her scandal, she is removed from European society and separated from her daughter, and is to about to be deported.

However, the Japanese general moves her to Japan where she has a baby boy. Her fortunes and relationships change with national and international events. By the time she returns to Great Britain in about , she has experienced shame, betrayal, success, and a level of independence seldom found by a female, especially a foreign one in an Asian country. When they chose a female as the lead character, the personality of that woman seldom rang true for me.

In The Ginger Tree, Mary seems to think, feel, and act more like a man than a girl, and later, a woman. I wonder if the author did any kind of research asking females, and listening before he wrote the book. Lonely in China, and not happily married, she has a beautiful, easy-care daughter. Most women would dote on this child, perhaps even overmuch in the circumstances.

Mary is almost aloof.

The Ginger Tree

Is anything said about the intimacy or lack of it with her husband? Her feelings are almost unknown. What about the fear and maybe panic of giving birth for the first time, in a foreign land? When she begins the affair, sex is a matter-of-fact decision, told in a way that to my mind resembles more the male point of view about extramarital sex. Later, when she works in the clothing industry, the business aspects ring true.

She is conducting business well, something the author may be recounting from first or second-hand experience. The story takes place during a volatile time for China and Japan. Historical details about the wars and alliances add interest. Where has this book been hiding? I very much enjoyed this story of a young woman named Mary who makes her way through the world; although it was very, very sad. But that's time for ya. She starts off on a boat, traveling to China to meet her betrothed.

I admit that at first I didn't much care for her - stuffy and scandalized to be seen on deck with a man and her chaperone nowhere in sight!

THE GINGER TREE by Oswald Wynd | Kirkus Reviews

Her marriage to a patronizing jerk seemed miserable. Poor Mary was choking on society at every turn, as if h Where has this book been hiding? Poor Mary was choking on society at every turn, as if her life was being forced into a corset. And she seemed so unaware of it. As a reader I wanted to scream to her to just leave. But then I remembered this was the early 's. And it was also a book. She finds her way out of that life and into another, equally unpleasant one, in Japan, but at a cost.

Her daughter is taken from her. Oddly, Mary didn't seem to mind this too much; she must not have bonded with her baby. It isn't long before she loses her son, too, with whom she has bonded. And thus begins another life. This time, however, it's a life of her own choosing and as she moves through it her eyes are opened to how others live their lives and that we all have secrets and quirks and we're not better or worse than one another; we're just different.

Mary recognizes this and her life picks up. She lives through a war, an earthquake, and the beginning of another war. All of her experiences are seen from the eyes of a "foreigner" in Japan. It is because of that that Mary has such a unique vision for her life and such drive despite all that has happened to her; it is also this that drives her fate.

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What made this book even more appealing for me was that the author was a Japanese prisoner of war for three years. Instead of depicting the Japanese as evil, he treated them very kindly - as if he went through great pains to ensure that what he wrote was accurate, true, and fair.

I got a really clear mental picture of Japan in the '20's and '30's, complete with the traditional nuances of behavior and conversation. This book will stick with me and I will miss Mary as a character.


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    • It's enjoyable, I suppose, well written and all that, interesting details, but the main character, apparently designed as a strong, resilient woman, does feel quite robotic, as another reviewer has pointed out. Some pretty awful stuff has been done to her, but she forgives the perpetrator in a weirdly catatonic way. After many years she sees him and is like OHAI, is that you?

    Let's have some sexx0rz! And he did something worse than rape. Also, she grows to be a fairly unsympathetic person. She likes no one really, has no passion for anything, is highly critical of everyone who is lower than her. Okay she liked her Chinese servant - that was good. Japan and Japanese she dislikes, together with "Japanophiles" - it was a bit refreshing after other Western books which pretty much idolize the culture, but even this dislike was dry and without passion and therefore not that interesting to read about.

    And there were quite a few lapses for someone who was born and lived in Japan. There were three Hollywood options which failed to be realized. Retired actress Juliet Gitterman took an interest in the book and raised money for its production. After a number of false starts, the project was completed. The East-meets-West aspects of the story are handled intelligently. The on-location effects are often splendid.

    But the overall production is plodding and curiously sluggish. There is simply never any doubt where this part of the story is taking you or how it will arrive there. The sight of a heavily pregnant Mary quickly wipes the smile off the face of her returning husband. Kurihama has provided her with a house and servants, but as a women, a foreigner and essentially a concubine, her movements will be very restricted.

    Mary might be portrayed initially as something of a naive, downtrodden figure but over time she gains strength and becomes less of a victim. Samantha Bond is very watchable, although her soft Scottish accent seems to come and go a little. The co-production budget allowed for a generous number of extras and set dressings, plus filming in Japan was obviously another major plus. The story unfolds over some forty years, ending during WW2, necessitating ageing makeup to be applied to the main cast, which is done very effectively.

    All four DVDs are due to be released on the 25th of April and below are some more details on each of them. The Ginger Tree , broadcast in , is a historical drama set in