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The Ginger Tree
The Ginger Tree
Author: Oswald Wynd
In 1903, a young Scotswoman named Mary Mackenzie sets sail for China to marry her betrothed, a military attachÉ in Peking. But soon after her arrival, Mary falls into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman, scandalizing the British community. Casting her out of the European community, her compatriots tear her away from her smal...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780060959678
ISBN-10: 0060959673
Publication Date: 6/1/2002
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 12

3.9 stars, based on 12 ratings
Publisher: Perennial Classics
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 104 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
An amazing book....beautifully written. A bit slow in spots, but worth it for the rich detail. The story of a young, unspoiled woman in a loveless marriage in Japan at the turn of the last century who gets pregnant from a brief affair with a japanese nobleman and is turned out of the European community to make her way in a strange land. I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this one is a jewel!
WestofMars avatar reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 162 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
What a neat book and neat story. This is a total sleeper; you'd probably never think to pick it up and read it, but after you do, it stays with you and you're glad of it.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
What I loved most about this book is that the character feels very real. She changes and grows throughout the novel and acts in unexpected ways at times, unlike the thoroughly predictable, one-dimensional character found in many novels.

Slightly worn, but definitely readable.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 39 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
fantastic book about asian culture in the early 1900's. Wonderful fictional characters. Love, betrayal, affairs. all the good stuff
Sandee60 avatar reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Good book...written from journals and letters, about a young Scotswoman's life in 1903 China...and her affair although married, with a young Japanese nobleman.
Read All 21 Book Reviews of "The Ginger Tree"

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reviewed The Ginger Tree on
Really wonderful yet heart wrenching piece of literature. I felt it started out a little slow but before long I was intrigued and I felt wrapped up in this young ladies life and the tragedies that ensued from her decisions. Well worth the read.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 366 more book reviews
Beginning in 1903 and ending at the start of WWII this is a wonderful novel about a Scottish girl who travels to China to marry a British man she barely knows. Her experiences in China and Japan are peopled with extraordinary characters and many twists and turns to her life.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 625 more book reviews
In 1903, a naive, inexperienced Scottish girl, Mary Mckenzie, sails to Peking to marry her fiance, British military attache, Richard Collingsworth, younger son of an upper class family. After a long and trying voyage, she is befriended by a sophisticated older Frenchwoman, who introduces her to a Japanese soldier, Count Kurihama.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 620 more book reviews
An extraordinary book, not only for the vast scope of its story but also for the unusual way in which it unfolds. Through diary entries and letters we get peeks into the remarkable life of a Scottish woman in China and Japan from the early 1900s to the era of World War Two. What was so surprising is that on the one hand there is copious detail about some aspects of Mary's life but on the other hand only delicate hints about some of its most emotionally momentous events. As with Chinese or Japanese art, the white space here is very eloquent.
reviewed The Ginger Tree on + 32 more book reviews
I liked the book it was a little slow in parts but over all very interesting take on womens rights ant the history of Japan. I would love to see the masterpiece movie, next on my list


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