"Widow Miyuki is a feminist icon"
For a novel set in the Japanese Heian Period, some 1000 years ago, this epic historical tale has a refreshingly contemporary view. In fact, what Didier Decoin has created in his protagonist, the widower Miyuki, is a feminist icon who must overcome both physical and social barriers to continue the work of her husband.
Miyuki leaves her village with a mission to deliver prized carp, reared by her departed husband, to the Imperial Palace and the mysterious and secretive Office of Gardens and Ponds. Travelling through the dangerously wild countryside with two enormous barrels of fish was never going to be easy yet Miyuki deals with everything thrown her way with unrelenting courage.
Decoin captures both the authenticity of the historical detail along with the tastes and smells that add a layer of literary depth. The novel is a story about smell from the sour brine of the carp to the ferment of soya bean paste and the rich incense of the palace. These olfactory fragments are a metaphor for the aspects of Miyuki's life that she must face; death, sex and sheer hard work are expressed through the senses. If the novel has any shortcomings it is the awkward sex scenes which are all pretty much avoidable.
Miyuki leaves her village with a mission to deliver prized carp, reared by her departed husband, to the Imperial Palace and the mysterious and secretive Office of Gardens and Ponds. Travelling through the dangerously wild countryside with two enormous barrels of fish was never going to be easy yet Miyuki deals with everything thrown her way with unrelenting courage.
Decoin captures both the authenticity of the historical detail along with the tastes and smells that add a layer of literary depth. The novel is a story about smell from the sour brine of the carp to the ferment of soya bean paste and the rich incense of the palace. These olfactory fragments are a metaphor for the aspects of Miyuki's life that she must face; death, sex and sheer hard work are expressed through the senses. If the novel has any shortcomings it is the awkward sex scenes which are all pretty much avoidable.
Trying at times, fascinating at others. 3.5
The Office of Gardens and Ponds by Didier Decoin and translated by Euan Cameron published by MacLehose Press 320 pages
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