A Summer Friendship With A Samurai

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is a fabulous story! This is one of my very favorite stories to date. Tsukiyama has a wonderful way of weaving lives of different people from different classes with a tone of sorrow and joy.

This is the story of a young Chinese man at the time of WWII. Stephen is sick and goes to his family's summer house in Japan to rest and get well. There Matsu, the care taker for their home, is Stephen's main companion. The stoic Matsu is somewhat intimidating with his strength and quiet demeanor.

As time goes, a friendship grows and much is revealed. Matsu, to the town's knowledge is a confirmed bachelor; to Sachi, he is her husband without the ceremony. After coming down with leprosy in her teenage years, Sachi was lost. Matsu came to her rescue - took her to a village with other lepers and saw that she was taken care of.

Now in their sixties, Matsu and Sachi bring joy and happiness to young Stephen along with a general feeling of peace. Tsukiyama writes this story in a way that will make you cry and feel proud and everything else wrapped up in a very sweet way.
It is a very short book according to my standards - only around 200 pages.

This is a must read! I promise you won't regret it!