The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Picture courtesy of wikipedia

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng is another recommendation by my awesome friend at work. The recommendation stood up to scrutiny once again and The Garden of Evening Mists is a mind-blowing piece of work.

The story revolves around Teoh Yun Ling, a retired judge who suffered from aphasia. During the Japanese Occupation, Yun Ling was a prisoner in a Japanese civilian camp with her sister, Yun Hong. Yun Hong did not make it out alive while Yun Ling managed to escape. After her escape, Yun Ling decided to approach Aritomo, the Emperor's gardener, to seek his help to build a Japanese garden for Yun Hong. Aritomo refused but decided to keep her as an apprentice so that Yun Ling could learn how to build a garden by herself. In her time as Aritomo's apprentice, Yun Ling became his lover until the day when he disappeared in the jungle during one of his walks. Yun Ling returned to Cameron Highlands after her retirement and spoke to a historian Tatsuji and learnt that the Japanese had a secret program to loot valuable items in occupied lands called Golden Lily. She soon discovered that Aritomo was likely to be involved in the Golden Lily program and left clues to the location of the looted treasure (and her former internment camp) in the tattoo he created on her back. Yun Ling decided to restore Aritomo's garden before she destroyed the tattoo on her back herself. 

The Garden of Evening Mists was an unpredictable read. It kept me thumbing continuously through the book, in fierce anticipation about what was going to happen next. The story never quite concluded anything, but left you to draw your own conclusions. There was no answer regarding Aritomo's disappearance or perhaps, there never was supposed to be one. There was no answer about the location of the treasure. or the camp, or Yun Ling's promise to free her sister's spirit from the camp's location. There was no proper conclusion, other than Yun Ling's decision to restore the garden and hints that she will lose herself in the jungle one day just like Aritomo did, so as to protect the clues to the treasure on her back. 

This is a book that is more about the journey than the destination. The start was incredibly slow and the first few chapters were a pain to pull myself through. There was no climax because the story circled between the past and present with no clear demarcation. There was no end and no closure. However, the story captivates the reader because of the flow and the style of writing. The writing was very good, descriptions were apt and smooth, and the words had the magical quality of transporting me to Cameron Highlands each time I picked up the book. 

This is one good read for nothing but the pleasure of reading.