The Japanese Lover

From internationally bestselling author Isabel Allende comes an exquisitely crafted, multigenerational love story.

In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of the Nazis and the world goes to war, young Alma Belasco's parents send her overseas to live with an aunt and uncle in their opulent San Francisco mansion. There she meets Ichimei Fukuda, the son of the family's Japanese gardener, and between them a tender love blossoms, but following Pearl Harbor the two are cruelly pulled apart. Throughout their lifetimes, Alma and Ichimei reunite again and again, but theirs is a love they are forever forced to hide from the world.

Decades later, Alma is nearing the end of her long and eventful life. Irina Bazili, a care worker struggling to reconcile her own troubled past, meets the older woman and her grandson, Seth, at Lark House nursing home. As Irina and Seth forge a friendship, they become intrigued by a series of mysterious gifts and letters sent to Alma, and learn about Ichimei and this extraordinary secret passion that has endured for nearly seventy years.

“'Lush storytelling, with a liberal dusting of South American magical realism and a multigenerational narrative sweep . . . The Japanese Lover has all the ingredients of classic Allende: love, secrecy, fate; stories within stories; the arc of history; and a certain robustness and ability for reinvention on the part of her characters'”

‘Lush storytelling, with a liberal dusting of South American magical realism and a multigenerational narrative sweep . . . The Japanese Lover has all the ingredients of classic Allende: love, secrecy, fate; stories within stories; the arc of history; and a certain robustness and ability for reinvention on the part of her characters’ Financial Times on The Japanese Lover
‘A magical and sweeping tale . . . remarkable . . . heartbreaking’ Publishers Weekly on The Japanese Lover

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, The Stories of Eva Luna, Paula, and The Japanese Lover. Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and have sold more than 77 million copies worldwide. She is the receipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and she divides her time between California and Chile.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.