In 2014, Isabel Allende won a U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. From her first novel, the magical realist classic and bestseller THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, Allende has always been able to weave a story that is both filled with romance and replete with political and cultural implications from various times in history. For THE JAPANESE LOVER, she harkens back to 1930, as Poland falls to the Nazis. The story of Alma Belasco provides a fantastical and emotional literary adventure for readers, taking on timely topics as race and identity in a fresh and exciting way.

It’s 1939. Alma’s parents have sent her to live safely with her aunt and uncle in an opulent mansion in San Francisco. The war rages well beyond American shores and mirrors the dramatic goings-on in her heart as she meets and falls for Ichimei Fukuda, a young son of a Japanese gardener. However, his family meets with the fate of so many Japanese-Americans; as America enters the war, his family enters an American military internment camp. Although separated, Alma and Ichimei reunite at various times throughout their lifetime, although they have to hide their love from a very cruel and misunderstanding world.

"The spectre of the war and the illicit treatment of Japanese-Americans are never lost on the reader, although Allende is too subtle a writer to do any real proselytizing. It is a beautiful and significant love story that she tells..."

When Alma is an old woman living in an assisted living center, she is cared for by Irina Bazili, who becomes friends with Alma’s grandson, Seth. They begin to unravel together a mystery made up of a series of gifts and letters that were sent to Alma from Ichimei, learning the truth about their amazing relationship that spanned over 70 years. Irina is also a child of war and finds that her long-repressed memories come floating uncomfortably to the surface of her life as she draws herself more deeply into Alma’s remarkable past.

“Irina was her copilot on this flight into the past. Not only did the photographs and other documents pass through her hands, but she was the one who classified them and compiled the albums. Her questions helped Alma when she drifted into dead ends, which allowed her life gradually to become clearer, better defined.”

In this day and age, when the rights and contributions of the elderly are often overlooked for the millennial obsession with naval-gazing, it is really a tribute to Allende’s humanism that she reaches back into this special woman’s past and finds a way to connect her with the contemporary world through the caring, conscientious Irina. Both are as beautiful and strong as any of Allende’s female characters. There are so many lovely scenes of reflection and discovery in their relationship, and it is quiet, like a pentimento, the way that Alma’s past pushes upward and outward into the light of day. Allende has such a knack for getting us under someone’s skin, especially through their memories.

The spectre of the war and the illicit treatment of Japanese-Americans are never lost on the reader, although Allende is too subtle a writer to do any real proselytizing. It is a beautiful and significant love story that she tells, although I was so much more interested in her than in Ichimei as a character. However, their war-torn romance is touching and engaging, and will appeal to anyone who likes their love tinged with the drama of global conflict and cultural change.