4 out of 4 stars
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Love, war, mystery, history, spies, lies and more fill the pages of Rob Smith’s The Water Trade. Smith’s writing enraptured me, making it difficult at times to stop and take notes as I was reading. The Water Trade held my interest from beginning to end.
Smith starts out by giving the reader background information about Japan’s water trade. He shares how it started in the 5th century in Japan, beginning as informal arrangements of “entertainment” by females for males, and how it evolved into the more formal geisha system of “entertainment” by the 17th century. Sex and sensuality are implied at times, but the word “entertainment” is how the author explains the system. This is just the beginning of the details Smith gives us throughout the story. The Water Trade is a work of fiction, loosely based on a true story, which primarily takes place during World War 2 in Hawaii and the decade afterwards.
The story starts in Japan, in the early 1900s, with the birth of two children about a decade apart, unknown to each other but who share a common, mysterious, teacher, Mrs. Zwagers. Arashi becomes an ensign in the Japanese Navy and then eventually a spy for Japan, in Hawaii at the beginning of WW2. Miyuki eventually makes her way to Hawaii in 1941. Arashi eventually encounters Miyuki at the teahouse, where geishas entertain Japanese men. Miyuki is a bookkeeper at the teahouse. Around the same time, Miyuki meets an American sailor, Smitty, whom she quickly becomes attached to, despite fighting the desire. As their lives intertwine, we realize people are not always who we think they are, and that minor characters are more important than we recognized. Watching Arashi, Smitty and Miyuki interact in the months, weeks and days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is intriguing and spell binding. The results of the attack on the characters are not what we expect. The story follows the characters into their new post-war lives.
Eventually, they all make their way back to Hawaii in the early 1950’s for a mind-blowing end to their stories. To go any further with the story would spoil it for the reader but I can tell you that it involves Mrs. Zwagers and a cab driver! Nothing is as it seems. The mysteries reveal themselves in unexpected ways; very little of what this reader predicted was right. For me, that was the best part of the book, as a predictable book is nowhere near as interesting as one that makes me continue to wonder as I did in The Water Trade.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The Water Trade warrants such a high rating due to continual intrigue, excellent historical background and overall excellent story line. If you enjoy the WW2 era and a well-written story that is different from the rest, than you will enjoy this book.
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The Water Trade
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