Informationen zum Autor Asha Lemmie is the New York Times bestselling author of Fifty Words For Rain and The Wildest Sun. She holds a BA in English Literature from Boston College and is currently a graduate student at Columbia University. She resides in New York City but can frequently be found wandering. Asha writes historical fiction that focuses on bringing unique perspectives to life. Klappentext Now in paperback: A Good Morning America book club pick and New York Times bestseller, Asha Lemmie's debut is a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman's quest for acceptance in post-World War II Japan. Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "If a woman knows nothing else, she should know how to be silentDo not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza's first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her shameful skin. The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African-American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Though her grandparents take her in, they do so only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life for what it is, despite her natural intellect and nagging curiosity about what lies outside the attic's walls. But when chance brings her "legitimate" older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him the first person who will allow her to question, and the siblings form an unlikely but powerful bond-a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow, and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it-a battle that just might cost her everything. Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to try to break free....

Autorentext

Asha Lemmie is the New York Times bestselling author of Fifty Words For Rain and The Wildest Sun. She holds a BA in English Literature from Boston College and is currently a graduate student at Columbia University. She resides in New York City but can frequently be found wandering. Asha writes historical fiction that focuses on bringing unique perspectives to life.

Klappentext

Now in paperback: A Good Morning America book club pick and New York Times bestseller, Asha Lemmie's debut is a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman's quest for acceptance in post-World War II Japan.

Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "If a woman knows nothing else, she should know how to be silent…Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza's first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her shameful skin.

The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African-American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Though her grandparents take her in, they do so only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life for what it is, despite her natural intellect and nagging curiosity about what lies outside the attic's walls. But when chance brings her "legitimate" older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him the first person who will allow her to question, and the siblings form an unlikely but powerful bond-a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow, and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it-a battle that just might cost her everything.

Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to try to break free.

Leseprobe

Prelude

**Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Summer 1948

**The first real memory Nori had was pulling up to that house. For many years afterward, she would try to stretch the boundaries of her mind further, to what came before that day. Time and time again, she d lie on her back in the stillness of the night and try to recall. Sometimes she d catch a glimpse in her head of a tiny apartment with lurid yellow walls. But the image would disappear as quickly as it came, leaving no sense of satisfaction in its wake. And so if you asked her, Nori would say that her life had officially begun the day she laid eyes on the imposing estate that rested serenely between the crests of two green hills. It was a stunningly beautiful place there was no denying it and yet, despite this beauty, Nori felt her stomach clench and her gut churn at the sight of it. Her mother rarely took her any where, and somehow she knew that something was waiting for her there that she would not like.

The faded blue automobile skidded to a stop on the street across from the estate. It was in the traditional style, surrounded by high white walls. The first set of gates was open, allowing full view into the meticulously arranged courtyard beyond. But the inner gates to the house itself were sealed shut. There were words engraved at the top of the main gate, embossed in gold lettering for all to see. But Nori could not read them. She could read and write her name No ri ko but nothing else. In that moment, she wished she could read every word ever written, in every language from sea to sea. Not being able to read those letters frustrated her to an extent she didn t understand. She turned to her mother.

Okaasan, what do those letters say?

The woman seated beside her let out a stifled sigh of frustration. It was clear that she d been a great beauty in her day. She was still gorgeous, but her young face was beginning to reflect the toll life had taken on her. Her dark, thick hair was bound behind her head in a braid that kept attempting to unravel. Her soft gray eyes were cast downwards. She would not meet her daughter s gaze.

Kamiza, she answered at last. It says Kamiza.

But that s our name, isn t it? Nori chirped, her curiosity immediately piqued.

Her mother let out a strangled giggle that made the hair on the back of Nori s neck stand up. The driver of the car, a man Nori had never seen before this morning, shot them a startled glance in the rearview mirror.

Yes, she responded softly, eyes alight with a strange look that Nori s limited vocabulary did not have the means to name. That is our family name. This is where my mother and father live, child. Your grandparents.

Nori felt her heartbeat quicken. Her mother had never before made any mention of relatives or family. Indeed, the two of them had drifted along in solitude so long it seemed strange to Nori that they could actually be anchored to a tangible place.

Did you live here once, Okaasan?

Once, her mother said dryly. Before you were born. A long time ago.

Nori scrunched her face up in a frown. Why did you leave?

That s enough questions now, Noriko. Get your things. Come.

Nori obeyed, biting her lip to refrain from inquiring further. Her mother did not like questions. Every time Nori asked something, she was met with a disapproving glance. It was better not to ask. On th…