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Book Review of The Concubine's Daughter

The Concubine's Daughter
mommytsunami avatar reviewed on
Helpful Score: 3


Lately I've been interested in fiction novels about Japan and China so I thought I'd like this book. But I didn't think I'd LOVE it as much as I did! I love books that span over several years and include the lives of different family members from their points of view and which this book does. I also liked how the author would use Chinese words in dialogue between the characters but would also put the English meaning right after it. For some reason, it makes me feel closer to the characters when books are written in a way that includes their culture and heritage but in a way that is easy to understand.

I would categorize the book as "historical fiction" because the events that occurred in the book were events that happened in real life, even though the characters of the book were fiction (if that makes any sense).

This is both a thriller/drama and a love story, not just between a man & woman, but also between mother & child and between friends. It's was heartwarming to see how much the women in this book cherished & protected each other but also very sweet to see how loving the relationships were between children and old people, even during a time where the life of a female had very little value.

I definitely recommend this book!