In this Book
- Plum Wine: A Novel
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
- Series: Library of American Fiction
Barbara Jefferson, a young American teaching in Tokyo in the 1960s, is set on a life-changing quest when her Japanese surrogate mother, Michi, dies, leaving her a tansu of homemade plum wines wrapped in rice paper. Within the papers Barbara discovers writings in Japanese calligraphy that comprise a startling personal narrative. With the help of her translator, Seiji Okada, Barbara begins to unravel the mysteries of Michi's life, a story that begins in the early twentieth century and continues through World War II and its aftermath.
As Barbara and Seiji translate the plum wine papers they form an intimate bond, with Michi a ghostly third in what becomes an increasingly uneasy triangle. Barbara is deeply affected by the revelation that Michi and Seiji are hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, and even harder for her to understand are the devastating psychological effects wrought by war. Plum Wine examines human relationships, cultural differences, and the irreparable consequences of war in a story that is both original and timeless.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xi
- Part One
- Chapter 10
- pp. 89-93
- Chapter 11
- pp. 94-103
- Chapter 12
- pp. 104-111
- Chapter 13
- pp. 112-121
- Chapter 14
- pp. 122-129
- Chapter 15
- pp. 130-134
- Chapter 16
- pp. 135-141
- Chapter 17
- pp. 142-151
- Chapter 18
- pp. 152-163
- Part Two
- Chapter 19
- pp. 167-177
- Chapter 20
- pp. 178-189
- Chapter 21
- pp. 190-199
- Chapter 22
- pp. 200-208
- Chapter 23
- pp. 209-217
- Chapter 24
- pp. 218-228
- Part Three
- Chapter 25
- pp. 231-239
- Chapter 26
- pp. 240-253
- Chapter 27
- pp. 254-262
- Chapter 28
- pp. 263-271
- Chapter 29
- pp. 272-282
- Chapter 30
- pp. 283-294
- Chapter 31
- pp. 295-305
- Chapter 32
- pp. 306-316
Additional Information
Copyright
2006