Review: The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

I received an advanced reader copy of The Japanese Lover from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Japanese Lover tells the decades long love story of Alma, a young Jewish girl who escaped Nazi Germany, and Ichi, the son of her aunt and uncle’s Japanese gardener.  Told through flashbacks and letters between Alma and Ichi as well as through fact finding done by her grandson, Seth, and Irina, her care worker, I was drawn into the story right from page one.

This is the first Isabel Allende novel that I have read and I really enjoyed it, up to a point.  Allende’s writing is warm and inviting. The main characters were well developed and relatable. I really wanted to love this book, but the ending just left me disappointed.  I liked the author’s writing style enough that I will try another of her books to see if it is just this story that left me flat.

The expected release date for The Japanese Lover is November 3, 2015.

Thanks for reading.