Her early works are fantastic in their imaginings and the later work more subdued and reflective but just as good and maybe better. The Japanese Lover starts in the collapsing Poland of 1939 when Alma Belasco’s parents send her away to safety at her aunt and uncles opulent home in San Francisco. There she meets Ichimei Fakuda, the son of the Japanese gardener and his family just before that family is interned with thousands of other Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The childish love that begins then, spans Alma’s lifetime.
Toward the end of Alma’s life she strikes up a close friendship with Irina Bazili, a caregiver in the nursing home where she now lives. Irina in turn begins a relationship with Alma's beloved grandson Seth and the two explore the secrets of Alma’s life even as their own relationship develops. A wonderfully sweet lover story filled with wisdom and tenderness.
“I especially like your autumn trees, gracefully letting their leaves fall. That is how I would like to shed my own leaves in this autumn of life, easily and elegantly. Why be so attached to what we are bound to lose anyway? I suppose I mean youth, which has been so present in our conversations.”
“that in itself age doesn’t make anyone better or wiser, but only accentuates what they have always been.”
“Happiness is not exuberant or noisy, like pleasure or joy; it’s silent, tranquil, and gentle; it’s a feeling of satisfaction inside that begins with self-love.”