The Woman in the White Kimono is a welcome addition to the ever burgeoning genre of women's historical fiction set in WWII and/or its aftermath. Unlike so many other of its contemporaries, it isn't set in Europe and instead spends a lot of time in Japan. Ana Johns clearly did her research and it shows, but never in a heavy handed way. Instead, she tells a thoughtful and very moving story and it is, hands down, one of the best historical fiction novels I've read in this genre in ages. I hope The Woman in the White Kimono finds the audience it deserves because it is very much worth reading!

Wonderful historical fiction book about the Japanese experience during WWII.
I learned a lot a truly enjoyed this book
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

Loved this book! Was amazed to learn of the Japanese cultural problems with Americans so far after WW2, and the attitude towards "mixed race" babies. The book was informative and disturbing at the same time

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Japan 1957, Naoko goes against tradition and her parents wishes by marrying an American and bringing great shame upon her entire family. America, present day. Tori Kovac, caring for her dying father, finds a letter containing a shocking revelation.

Fairly quick and predictable (sappy) read. More Chick Lit than Historical Fiction.

2.75☆

What a well written piece of historical fiction this is! There were so many things I had to look up after reading this, one being the statues of the girl in the red shoes; one on Shelter Island in San Diego, the other in the Port of YokoHama. I know this story is fictional, but the way the author writes it makes you believe her characters really existed. I am intrigued to research the maternity home she writes about and more about the war and the mixed race children born from American soldiers and Japanese women. If you like historical fiction, you will not be disappointed reading this. #thewomaninthewhitekimono #netgalley

A love story about an American sailor who fell in love with a Japanese girl at the end of WWII. This book had beautiful scenery and interesting Japanese sayings. It’s told from two points of view, two places, and two periods of time. It’s both gorgeous and sad. There’s love and loss. I’m glad I read this book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

OMG! I think that this is the best book I've read in 2019! This is the story of post WWII Japan and what happened when the American soldiers went home. It was happy, sad, heart wrenching and told of strength that I just can't imagine.

Run don't walk to your nearest book store and pre-order this today.

Many many thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this advanced readers copy. Release date for this gem is May 2019!

5 out of 5 stars

I decided to pick up The Woman in the White Kimono because I have been craving something different than my usual reads. And boy am I happy that I got approved to read this heartbreaking and at the same time heartwarming tale.

The Woman in the White Kimono is a tale of the American Occupation of Japan from 1953 to 1957 and the consequences of it. The reader is presented with a split narrative - that of a young Japanese woman in 1957 (Naoko) and a young journalist with a dying father in present day Detroit (Tori). I must say that the start of the novel turned me off for a bit - it read like a Japanese Romeo and Juliette and the perfect relationship between father and daughter just did not seem real. However, all of that changed, into a really dark novel.

Slight Spoilers ahead

The novel turns into a story of what happened between the Americans who occupied Japan and the women. As in any occupation, babies happen; sure some come from love but a lot of them came from rape, opportunistic practices and other encounters. Whichever way, the women and the babies born during this time were ostracized and vilified. Over ten thousand babies were born to Japanese woman and American men. They did not belong to any country and those that did survive found a lifetime of hardship and discrimination. Japan is a nation of tradition, deep spiritual beliefs and profound pride - anything which shames and disrespects these must not be tolerated. The half Japanese and American babies were a product of losing a war, of losing honor and of deep shame - they were swept under, not to be seen, heard or spoken of. The Woman in the White Kimono explores all of these notions, shows the struggle of women found themselves in these predicaments and explores the unbelievable amount of courage these women had. It speaks of love, fear, family, pride and the ever-changing time. This is the story of Naoko, while Tori must come to terms with having a not so perfect father.

“Father is but another name for God” (Jay Kristoff) and when you find out that your own father is not the perfect man you have always envisioned and believed - it shakes you to the core. Like I said before - Tori’s relationship with her father in the beginning of the book was completely unreal to me - I am sorry but a grown up woman who cannot see any faults in her father is just unbelievable. However, once she finds out that he had a previous marriage and a baby in 1957 in Japan - it changes. All of a sudden she realizes that she doesn’t know who he is and what happened and to make peace with his past she must find his previous family. Tori’s story revolves around understanding that a person does not have to be perfect to be a good father. She comes to understand that to accept and love someone is to do so with every choice they have ever made. In the end - Tori re-establishes her faith in her father and understands herself better.

All in all - it is a wonderful book, full of wisdom, life struggles, love and family. My only issue is that the ancestry of the father get’s mixed up in a few passages - at first the author says he is from Slovakia and then Hungary - while those two countries border each other - they’re not the same. Otherwise I really enjoyed this novel.

I thought this was very enlightening story. I've always loved anything about Japan. It first started with anime and manga then it accumulated to learning more about the culture and history. Really haven't learned anything about Japan post era of WW2 and I wanted to learn more about it.
I think this novel did help me more understand about that time. I enjoyed reading the perspectives of Naoko and Tori and their journeys through out the story. It kinda felt obvious where this story was going but it did surprise a little at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for letting me read The Woman in the White Kimono. The following review and opinion is entirely my own and not influenced by receiving this book.

Ana Johns tells us two story lines from 1957 Japan and present day USA. Tori seeks to find the connection with the woman in a picture wearing a white kimono that her dying fathers has. We learn about how Japanese and American relationships were viewed by history.

We go on a journey with main characters seeking to figure out the puzzle of the relationship which is revealed very slowly and poignantly as is fitting for the story. The cross-culture struggles are thought provoking, the long-standing traditions and beliefs are well executed, and the love story is poignant. All around, reading this is time well spent.

This book is utterly unputdownable. It is an elegantly written book about a young Japanese woman, Naoko Nakamura, who falls in love with an American soldier in post-World War II Japan and the decisions she’s forced to make – and the consequences of that decision. At the same time, in alternating chapters, Johns tells the story of an American woman, Tori Kovac, whose father is dying. When she finds a letter addressed to someone in Japan who she doesn’t know and has never heard of, her curiosity is piqued.

There is something about this book that makes you pause in your reading long enough to enjoy the wonderment at the fact that you’re reading a debut novel by an undoubtedly very talented author. The characters this first-time author has created are sheer genius – they are eminently so well-drawn the reader is saddened by the fact they aren’t real.

This is a book that I’m sure will stay at the top of my favorite books for 2019. I rarely read a book twice - this one, however, will get a second, and maybe even a third, read just for the joy of read such a well-crafted book. If you only read one book this month, this year, make it this one.

Thanks to Park Row Books and NetGalley for an eARC.

I’ve been eager to write about The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns since finishing it an whole half an hour ago but, as I’m sitting here, I’m having a hard to putting into words how much the book made me feel.

I knew within the first quarter of this book that it was hands down a five-star top-notch book that I needed to share. Naoko is a young Japanese woman at the age where marriage is arranged. But in post-war Japan, things have changed. Although Naoko has a suitor who is not at all what she thought he would be (in a good way), she’s already given her heart to a young American solider whose child she is carrying. Disgraced, she must find her way outside of her family’s home with or without her soldier.

Flash forward to present day America, we meet Tori. She’s a journalist whose beloved father has passed away, but not without his secrets. As she reads a letter, Tori realizes her father’s stories may actually have been him trying to explain to her about his early life. In order to find closure, Tori finds herself traveling across the world for answers.

If you loved books like Memoirs of a Geisha or Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, you absolutely MUST read The Woman in the White Kimono. It is one of the most heartfelt, gut-wrenching books I have read. I rarely cry, but I shed a tear several times reading this book. You will cheer, you will cry, you will be completely engulfed in the story and have no idea what is going on around you. I cannot recommend it enough! Get it on your TBR now, because it releases on May 28, 2019!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for providing me with a copy of this book . I have read and reviewed this book voluntarily and all opinions expressed are my own.

I requested the book almost solely based on the cover and the small blurb that initially appeared when searching but oh my goodness! I was honestly surprised with how much I loved it. Having been to Japan for a bit and returning soon, I really enjoyed the descriptions of the country and the detail given to the customs and attire of the Japanese. It was a beautifully written book that felt so real and raw that I have no doubt based on other information I have read, that situations similar did happen. Loved it!

Not too long ago, I read that children have trouble seeing their parents as people who had a life (and a history) before they became parents. This story is a wonderful look at what happened in Jimmy's life before his daughter, Tori, was born.. Tori finds out that her father fell in love with a Japanese girl, Naoto, when he was in the Navy.in the early 50's. What she learns only leads to more questions. Tori is searching for answers, questioning her father's character. Naoto is searching for love and acceptance at a time when a relationship with Americans was not acceptable. Very informative and very moving!

NetGalley and Harlequin provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic story about an unknown and sad part of Japanese and American history. I really feel for Naoko and what she had to go through.

#TheWomanintheWhiteKimono #NetGalley
“A life with love IS happy. A life FOR love is foolish. A life of IF ONLY is unbearable. In my seventy eight years, I have had all three.”
So begins this beautiful and cleverly written book by Ana Johns. For the most part the chapters alternate effectively between two. narrators: Tori in the present day in America and Naoko in 1957-1958 in Japan.
Tori’s dad is dying of cancer and begins to tell her a story but dies before he has finished. There is a returned letter, a scarf and after going through his things discovers a photo.
Naoko’s affluent family is forcing her to marry for business reasons. However, she has met and fallen in love with an American sailor stationed in Japan.
Somehow the stories must merge.
Tori is a journalist and determines to find out about her dad’s past especially after she reads the returned letter and discovers she may have a .halfsister.
Does Naoko defy her family? Does her sailor come back for her?
Will Tori be able to find a halfsister?
The author has done a great deal of research into lives in Japan and, although this is not historical fiction, Ana Johns has created what could indeed have happened.
Bookclubs and women of all ages will have trouble putting The Woman in the White Kimono down. Keep the tissues handy!

I picked this book based on the title and descriptiin because I love books with Asian theme. They are written with wit and moral at the end. This book was a good read. I enjoyed the story line. The writng was good and I could picture the whole plot almost as described. It was flawless reading. Flawless writing. I did like it a lot and I will recommend it a lot too.

This story follows two timelines: one around 1957 featuring Naoko and Hajime's story and one more recently featuring a young woman, Tori, and her dying father. It is written eloquently and is very atmospheric. I felt so terrible for Naoko's journey and I felt bad for Tori's dying father. I did, however, lose interest about halfway through. I did not find the young woman figuring out her father's past plot particularly interesting. Although I appreciate a story line about the hardships of biracial Asian/White babies, as a Japanese and white biracial person, I still wasn't taken by this plot. I wanted to like this more but I just couldn't get into it. I appreciated Tori's genealogical search, but still didn't care to finish this book. I can't put my finger on why exactly, but it just didn't do it for me. Sorry!

So many emotions ran through me as I read this story. Tears for the wed or unwed mothers in Japan with babies that were half American. The trials, stigma, cold heartedness shown by their traditional families is heartbreaking. The babies through no fault of their own, shunned, treated like their worth was nothing.
I loved the history, the factual storyline. Such a wonderful and beautiful story.
Strongly recommended!

The Woman In The White Kimono is a story about two women who live decades apart. By chance, the present day woman learns that she may have a significant connection to another woman because of a past event. It's a puzzle that she decides to solve. Present day woman goes in search of the truth. It's possibly a life changing journey. The story is beautiful and poetic in its language and flow. I was quite as interested as I thought I would be, but I liked it well enough to read the entire story. It's charming and engaging with likeable complex characters. Just a bit slow for me. Overall it's a good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.