I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of FIFTY WORDS FOR RAIN through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thanks for hosting the contest, and stay safe!

Read if you: Want a heartbreaking and powerful story about a biracial Japanese girl/young woman in post World War II Japan.

Waning: This does not have a cheerful, happy ending. However-this is a beautifully created and written debut novel, and I'm definitely looking forward to more from Asha Lemmie.

Librarians/booksellers: Purchase for your historical fiction fans; it includes a unique perspective and setting rarely found in historical fiction.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

How could this exceptional book be a debut by such a talented author? I became totally absorbed in this historical fiction. Her characters were well drawn and the descriptions of the Japan of the past kept me engaged. Well done and I am anxiously awaiting her next novel! #FiftyWordsForRain #AshaLemmie #NetGalley

In post World War II Japan, Nori, the illegitimate daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and a black American GI, is hidden away on her grandmother's estate to hide the family shame. All Nori knows is the attic she is confined to until she meets her legitimate half-brother, Akira, a boy who shows her the world is so much more.

Of all the September 2020 book releases I've read, Fifty Words for Rain and is vying for one of my best books of the year. You'll love this complicated story about family shame and the need for acceptance. Now I just need everyone to read it so I have someone to discuss the ending with!

I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I thank NetGalley for this opportunity.
In a country where honor and family are paramount, Noriko is born to a Japanese woman from a powerful family and a black American GI. Without much imagination, the reader knows instantly that this will be the theme throughout. How can a powerful family keep their honor when the heir to the family fortunes produces a bastard mixed race child? The book had excellent imagery and character development, although I have lived in Japan and know the sites and sounds of the nation, and I understand the concepts of the strong family unit and the importance of saving face and keeping ones honor. I felt many emotions throughout the book from disgust to happiness to shock, pity, and anger. I loved almost everything about this book.

I give it 4 and a half stars. I almost had it to a 5. I would recommend this book to patrons.

Stop here if you do not want to know what I did not like...
I thought the character of Will was poorly done. The whiplash of his character change did not ring true to me. Maybe the author was trying to show multi dimensions with the character, but the change was so sudden. When the character comes back, the switch is underdeveloped and really brief. It just was odd.
I also really struggle with the ending. To me it required too much of a leap from where the story goes for 400 pages to end there. It really bothers me that Nori does what she does instead of making a number of other choices that would make me cheer the result.

After being abandoned by her mother and left in the care of her tyrannical grandmother, Nori seeks freedom and acceptance in a cruel and judging world.

Fifty Words for Rain
A Novel
by Asha Lemmie
PENGUIN GROUP Dutton
You Like Them
Dutton
Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction
Pub Date 01 Sep 2020 | Archive Date 31 Dec 2020

Beautifully written book. I will recommend this to our patrons. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC of this book. Thoughtful and provocative.

A wonderfully written, unique & interesting story set in post-war Japan. This story immediately sucks you in when you realize that 8 year old Nori is abandoned by her mother at the doorsteps of grandparents she has never met. From that moment on you want to know why and how she survives. This book will make a great book club read. The ending demands discussion..

Lemmie sets her story in an interesting historical period in Japan. It is post WWII and the royal families are turning to other means to keep afloat and in power. Coming of age Nori is a victim of a tyrannical grandmother who is determined to keep the family in power and unblemished. Japanese culture in its most rigid form is forced on her--she is a blight, she is beautiful, she is a victim, she triumphs. Or does she? It is hard to understand family loyalty, but it is beautiful in its purest form.

This is a wonderful novel of love, family, and breaking bonds. Set mainly in post WWII Japan, we are fully sucked into the story of young Nori, who was born out of wedlock to her mother and her mother’s lover - a military man from the US. Her mother’s affair instantly marks her an outcast. Nori must fight for everything in her life, but eventually gets the opportunity to change her family’s future and right the wrongs they have committed. A truly moving glimpse into a world that fell out of time.

Unfortunately this one is going to have to be a DNF because there was something wrong with my eCopy. I wasn't able to open it or it kept buffering. Therefore I don't feel like it's fair to give it a low rating. Hopefully can pick up a copy after the book is published!

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie is the type of book a lot of readers will enjoy--historical fiction with a moving plot, an interesting main character, some romance, some heartbreak, and more than passable writing. In post-WWII Japan, Noriko finds herself at the gates of her grandparent’s house, and her mother driving away forever. We watch from afar as her life takes many turns as she struggles to survive as an unwanted child in a traditional Japanese family. Lemmie’s debut novel falters at times with too much stilted dialogue, underdeveloped side characters, and the plot starts to fall apart towards the end, but she manages to evoke some real emotion that resonates. Readers who enjoy The Nightengale, Under a Scarlet Sky, and other historical fiction should definitely give this new writer a try.

The book was absolutely riveting; I read it in two days and any time not spent reading it was spent thinking about it. The ending stunned me, angered me, made me weep, and made absolute sense.

I loved this book so much. The love she has for her brother is so beautiful and touching. I could barely put it down and it was an amazing story. I didn't love the ending but it wasn't predictable I can say that. I wish it had given more information on that time period in Japan but it did focus on how she wasn't really a part of that society which was a large part of the plot. Great book!

Noriko is the product of a Japanese woman and African American man, born in Japan after WWII. After being dropped off at her grandmother’s house, Nori doesn’t understand why she has been abandoned by her mother. Put in the attic and shunned by her very traditional Japanese grandparents, Nori merely exists until her half brother, Akira, comes into the picture. The story gets more intense and it is hard to put down the book. Well written and an excellent piece of literary fiction, I recommend and thank Netgalley for the ARC.

While this was a somewhat hard book for me to read because of the context, I did really enjoy it and know that it is believable on all levels. The part that I struggled with the most was the ending because Nori became the exact thing she hated throughout. But, I also know that that happens as well.

A very well written plot and the character development was fabulous as well.

First, thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very reminiscent of other books I've read in the past, Flowers in the Attic comes to mind, as does White Oleander and Memoirs of a Geisha (with a dash of the movie Mommy Dearest, but not with wire hangers). I very much enjoyed the majority of the book, which follows Nori's journey from child with a strict upbringing to woman with emotional baggage to spare. I feel like the last 30% of the book or so took everything I loved about the first 70% and dialed it up to 11, making it slightly unbearable in the process. The ending especially felt like a miss to what I was expecting, because Nori basically turns into the very person she hated from the beginning.

All that said, the book was still mostly enjoyable for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone who really likes dramatic fiction. I especially liked the author's writing style, and came away from the book with many quotes noted down in my notebook.

I loved loved this book. Beautiful, lush writing; a fascinating storyline. Nori is a heroine I loved almost right away. I will recommend this book where-ever I can when it is released!!