Beautifully written poetic book about love, loss and loyalty. A young American woman, Barbara, goes to Japan to teach at a university. She is taken in by an older Japanese teacher. The older teacher dies, leaving a Japanese tansu chest stocked with bottles of homemade plum wine to Barbara. Barbara learns that each bottle is covered with parchment that the older teacher has used to write down and document the events of her life over the last thirty years. The author's writing style is very visual with the reader easily being able to picture the locations, the food and the experience of life in Japan in the 1960's. Highly recommended for book club.

A primary theme is not to be caught in the past.

I really enjoyed this book and it was great for discussion in our book club. We all had very divergent views and we all saw the book from different angles.

Sort of a "dark" romance between the leading characters. Unresolved issues remain unresolved, and therefore I found the ending unsatisfying. Still, a good read.