Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

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Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

Author: Asha Lemmie

From debut author Asha Lemmie, a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s quest for acceptance in post–World War II Japan.
Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.”
Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin.
The result of an affair between a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to…

[highlight color=”green”]Goodreads users review :[/highlight]

Noriko is the product of a Japanese woman and African American man, born in Japan after WWII. After being dropped off at her grandmother’s house, Nori doesn’t understand why she has been abandoned by her mother. Put in the attic and shunned by her very traditional Japanese grandparents, Nori merely exists until her half brother, Akira, comes into the picture. The story gets more intense and it is hard to put down the book. Well written and an excellent piece of literary fiction, I recommend and thank Netgalley for the ARC. Ellen                                                                                                      rated it: 5.0 from 5.0

The book was absolutely riveting; I read it in two days and any time not spent reading it was spent thinking about it. The ending stunned me, angered me, made me weep, and made absolute sense. Candace Worrell                                                                                      rated it: 5.0 from 5.0