Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
1948 in Kyoto, Japan. Do not inquire. Avoid conflict. Do not struggle.
It is the first lesson learned by eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza. With just these few words, she won’t wonder why her mother left her. She will not challenge her captivity in the imperial estate’s attic. Also, she is powerless against the scorching chemical baths she must take every day to lighten her skin.
Nori was raised as an outsider because she is the kid of a married Japanese aristocracy and her African American GI lover. Because they are determined to preserve their royal lineage in a Japan that is changing, her grandparents take her in but keep her hidden. Despite her innate intelligence and curiosity, Nori, who is obedient to a fault, accepts her life of solitude.
Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie
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But when Akira, her older half-brother, is accidentally brought to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny by chance, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a strong bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. For Nori is prepared to engage in a battle that just might cost her everything now that she has seen a glimpse of a world in which she might just fit in after all.
Fifty Words for Rain is a stunning epic about the ties that bind, the bonds that give you strength, and what it means to be free that spans decades and continents.
Noriko Kamiza, our main heroine, is eight years old when her mother abandons her at her grandparents’ house with a note that most likely explains who she is. It is a tragic scene when Noriko sees her mother leave in her car without giving her daughter, who is confused and grieving, a last look. Who could avoid suffering from emotional harm? The sight of Nori’s grandparents’ wretched grandchild is a warning of cruelty and a study of the aristocratic family. Nori’s grandparents are descended from a noble Japanese family.
Nori is confined to the attic, a dark, cramped space with no windows, basic furnishings, and a meditation area. Periodically, her grandmother Yuko pays her a visit and grills her with questions.
It is a small royal family. Yoku appears to be the Emperor’s cousin, and Lemmie offers a thorough historical background from the 1950s through the 1960s.
The book doesn’t mention any historical topics at all while being billed as historical fiction. Well, it is set in Japan after World War Two, but anything might have happened there. Nori, the main character, serves as a stand-in for a fully realized individual. There is no end to the abuse she endures. Being a bi-racial youngster who is unaware of her birth circumstances is her biggest challenge. It is an anticlimactic revelation when she ultimately finds out that she was indeed created in love. Both to her and the reader.
She undermines herself repeatedly throughout the novel, avoiding responsibility, and relying on others to support her. Then, the ending is (at best) disjointed and features the major character acting wholly inconsistently.
It’s not a terrible first book, but it’s far from deserving of the accolades that call it a wonderful book. Furthermore, it is not factual fiction.
