The Garden of Evening Mist

I asked my friend in Singapore, June, an English major, for a book recommendation. Both she and her husband Ed, suggested this one. I told them my favorite genre was historical fiction because you learn about history but your attention is kept because it is told in a story of people and their struggles. The character in this one, a survivor of imprisonment by Japanese in Malaysia during WWII - she did have struggles. Very interesting character, and there is a bit of a mystery in this too, as she tries to learn the location of the prison camp where she was held and where her sister was killed. It also has a poetic element to it as she tries to learn the art of the Japanese garden from a man who was once the Emperor's gardener. So many interesting details, even Japanese tatoo art.