The Teahouse Fire
Ellis Avery
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars
3.50
· 16 ratings · 400 pages · Published: 01 Jan 2000
The story of two women whose lives intersect in late-nineteenth-century Japan, The Teahouse Fire is also a portrait of one of the most fascinating places and times in all of history—Japan as it opens its doors to the West. It was a period when wearing a different color kimono could make a political statement, when women stopped blackening their teeth to profess an allegiance to Western ideas, and when Japan’s most mysterious rite—the tea ceremony—became not just a sacramental meal, but a ritual battlefield.
We see it all through the eyes of Aurelia, an American orphan adopted by the Shin family, proprietors of a tea ceremony school, after their daughter, Yukako, finds her hiding on their grounds. Aurelia becomes Yukako’s closest companion, and they, the Shin family, and all of Japan face a time of great challenges and uncertainty. Told in an enchanting and unforgettable voice, The Teahouse Fire is a lively, provocative, and lushly detailed historical novel of epic scope and compulsive readability.
Tagged as:
- romance 4
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- lgbtq+ 3
- women loving women 3
- literary fiction 2
- female mc 2
- coming of age 2
- protagonists of colour 2
- on the move 2
- drama 2
- religion 1
- epic 1
- action / adventure 1
- spirituality 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1