The Fallen Persimmon by Gigi Karagoz
Japan 1985 - a young English woman battles her conscience.
A page-turning suspense novel...
Money blows across a field, the notes slapping against the stubble of dry rice stalks. Mr Ito walks towards the irrigation ditch at the end of his field, his rubber boots kicking up dust.
Standing at the ditch, he remembers the rumour; the one about the missing English woman.
But this is Mari’s story. She knows it's her fault that her sister died, and trying to move on, she takes a dream job teaching English in small-town Japan. It turns into a nightmare when Mari learns that she’s employed by the yakuza (Japanese mafia), and that the man she loves has his own dark secrets. When the yakuza play their final hand, Mari believes that once again, it's all her fault.
Author Bio
Gigi has spent most of her life living and working in countries all over the world. Her big passion is travel, especially in Asia, and India is a favourite destination. Giving up a career in tourism, she qualified as a holistic therapist and worked in yoga retreats in the Mediterranean for twelve years. Currently, Gigi lives in Wiltshire with Isabella, the cat she rescued from the streets of Fethiye, in southern Turkey.
Review
The Fallen Persimmon opens with Mari picking up glass that has been smashed in her apartment and blood on the tatami mats. We learn her flatmate Kate has not come home from a night out. The book then returns to the months previous to this event.
I flew through this book as it was just a great story. Two girls in their early 20’s go to Japan to teach English, but don’t realise that their contract is with the Japanese mafia the yukuza. They want to have fun but their bosses are loathe to let them out during the evening. They become friends with some locals and go out partying and the yukuza decides to punish them. This was definitely a page turner of a story! The suspense from the middle of the book to the end ramped up to no end! Plus that ending - I was no expecting that!!!
Out of the two girls I definitely preferred Mari as Kate comes across as selfish and irresponsible when dealing with their issues. I felt Mari tried to embrace the culture more by learning the language, walking her local area and making friends (ones she did take to the love hotels!).
Now I don’t know a lot about Japanese culture apart from what the mainstream media portrays but I can fully accept that the yukuza may be exactly as described in the story. It seems as if it is embedded in their culture, work life and personal lives. I think the author has done a good of showing how all pervasive it must be. I would of been like work and then home! I can live on instant noodles for a year…… I did love the scenes with Crazy Dog though. Also imagining the tea house and Ashi’s home made me feel calm and peaceful. I would love to travel to Japan one day and see the ornate temples and blooming cherry trees. Another book I have read recently is Stephanie Scott’s ‘What’s Left Of Me Is Yours’ which shows the justice system from another angle. That was also a beautiful book.
I feel as if I would get on with the author Gigi going by her author page. I spent a lot of time in India growing up in ashrams and my mum was into alternative therapies and was a practitioner as well. So I’m really looking forward to her upcoming novel Sandalwood. That word alone invoked the smell of my pray beads and India in general. Roll on January when we get to read it!
