I picked up Ana Johns’ The Woman in the White Kimono on the cover image alone. I didn’t read the jacket description until the ARC was on my kindle and when I finally did get around to looking at it, I groaned in exasperation as my personal tastes don’t lend themselves to post-WWII fiction.

To make a long story short, I was not convinced this novel would suit and was caught entirely off guard when I fell utterly in love with the text. Johns’ draws readers in with the poetry of her prose and I was moved by her ability to craft such an emotional narrative from such a distressing episode of little-known history.

As a dedicated reader of historical fiction, I was naturally more interested in Naoko’s half of the narrative, but it was Tori’s that ultimately brought a tear to my eye. Johns’ passion for research is evidenced throughout the narrative, but the vulnerability displayed by her characters took my breath away.

The novel is not suspenseful or overly ambiguous, but despite understanding where the story was going, I couldn’t bring myself to put it down. Eloquent, poignant and profoundly crafted, The Woman in the White Kimono is an absolute must read.

This book follows two ladies, 17 year old Naoko. A young Japanese woman in post-war Japan. Naoko falls in love with an American sailor, and becomes pregnant. Her parents force her to choose between her family and the love of her life. The second lady is set in present day America. After the death of Tori's father, she reads a letter that states he has another daughter. Tori travels to Japan, determined to find her sister and uncover the truth of her father's war time adventures.

Overall, this book was well written and engaging. I thought Naoko's story was fascinating. Tori's story seemed a bit labored until the end when everything came together. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Tori Kovic’s father has always talked about his time in Japan after World War II, and the woman he fell in love with there. Now, as he’s dying, a letter from Japan has arrived and Tori knows she has to uncover the truth about her father and his life in Japan in the 1950’s. Traveling between past and present, Johns pens a story of a young woman growing up in Japan when the culture there was becoming more modern, more American. When Naoko falls in love with an American even as her parents have arranged a marriage with one of her father’s business associates, a scandalous love affair and a child out of wedlock ensue.