The Lie by Helen Dunmore

The Lie is set in Cornwall and is told from the point of view of Daniel Branwell, a young man who has just returned from the Great War. Physically Daniel seems fine, but he is emotionally damaged from the horrors of war and, in particular, he feels guilty at not being able to save his childhood friend and comrade, Frederick. Daniel has come back to his hometown as this reminds him of growing up with Frederick and his sister Felicia. However, he is reluctant to meet people from his past. He helps Mary Pascoe, an elderly semi-recluse, on her small holding, in return for food and shelter. When Mary dies, Daniel takes over her cottage. He wants to hide himself away, but it also keen to reconnect with Frederick’s sister, Felicia. Felicia is a war widow and single mother. As their friendship resumes, they talk about their memories of Frederick and, in doing so, Daniel begins to come to terms with the past. I felt I knew Daniel from the opening pages. I liked the way the sentences mimicked his tortured soul and erratic mind as he tries to make sense of everyday life after the horrors of war. The story stayed with me long after I had finished reading it.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2012, The Garden of Evening Mists is set in Malaysia and takes place during three different time periods – the late 1980s, the early 1950s and World War II.  The narrator is Yun Ling Teoh, a newly retired Supreme Court Judge.  The story starts in the 1980s with her return to Yugiri, in the Cameron Highlands.  In Yugiri, Yun Ling decides to write her life story before she dies.  As she looks back we learn that she was the lone survivor of a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp.  That, as a young woman in the 1950s, staying with friends in the Cameron Highlands, she visited Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, to ask the owner, Aritomo, to design a garden in memory of her sister who died in the camp.  Aritomo is an exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Aritomo refuses and instead offers her an apprenticeship.  Despite her hatred for the Japanese, she accepts.   As the months pass, Yun Ling grows to love the art of gardening and finds herself intimately drawn to Aritomo.  The mystery as to how Yun Ling survived the camp, when everyone else died, intensifies as the story unfolds.  I got a real sense of place from the evocative descriptions.  It was interesting to read about this period of Malayan history and how it shaped its political future.  I liked the contrast of the calmness of the garden and the violent political landscape. I found the ending a little unsatisfactory.