In 1903 Mary Mackenzie sails from Scotland to China to
marry Richard Collingsworth, whom she barely knows. She describes the voyage through letters and
diary entries. They marry shortly after her arrival and move
into a house in Peking. Richard has
strict ideas and doesn’t allow Mary any money or freedom – a familiar picture
for women at the beginning of the 20th century. Richard is the British military attaché and
as such his job takes him away from Mary for long periods of time. It is
shortly after the Boxer uprising and tensions are still running high. Mary has just had their first child, a little
girl. She is bored, alone for a lot of this time in
a strange culture. It is on one of
Richard’s long absences that she has an affair with Count Kurihama, who is
serving in the Japanese army. She falls pregnant with his child. Richard returns months later to discover his
wife is carrying another man’s child and not just any man, but a Japanese
man. He throws her out of the house refusing
to allow her to take their daughter. With
help from the Count she moves to Japan where she gives birth to a son. She settles in Japan and The Ginger Tree tells
her fascinating story of survival in an alien culture. The whole story is written in the form of
diary entries or letters in such a realistic way that Mary seems real and not a
fictional character. The reader is privy
to Mary’s secrets and inner thoughts. Of course the reader only gets to hear Mary’s
side of the story and I would have liked to know what the other characters were
feeling. The only downside for me was the leap from 1928
to 1941. Mary’s voice is convincing and
the language used perfect for the era. I
discovered this book while browsing through travel guides in Stanfords Book
Shop in London. I’m so pleased to have
found it as I know I will read it again and again. The book is published by Eland.
