book reviews 50 words for rain

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

FIFTY WORDS FOR RAIN

by Asha Lemmie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2020

A bold historical portrait of a woman overcoming oppression marred by inconsistent character development.

Born into a noble Japanese family during World War II, Noriko Kamiza should be a princess, but her illegitimacy makes her a disgrace to her own family.

At only 8 years old, Nori is left at her maternal grandparents’ manor in Kyoto. As she abandons her daughter, Nori's mother gives her a bit of advice: Obey your grandparents. Do not resist. Nori's grandparents are horrified at Nori's very existence: Her skin color, which reveals that her father was an African American serviceman, is visible proof of their daughter's infidelity. Nori's life will be hard, and Lemmie's debut novel traces her journey from being hidden in her grandparents’ attic, beaten, and subjected to painful bleach baths to lighten her skin; to being sold to a brothel and groomed for sale to the highest bidder; to being rescued and finding freedom from her grandmother's abuse. Meanwhile, Nori discovers that she has an older half brother named Akira. Seeing Akira as the only hope to redeem the family’s honor, Nori’s grandmother is dismayed to witness Akira and Nori's deep love for each other. Lemmie’s sweeping historical backdrop, from the post–World War II decline of minor royalty through the expanding liberations of the 1960s, is breathtaking. Unfortunately, Nori’s own metamorphosis into a strong young woman is inconsistent and a bit confusing. Again and again, just when we think she has found a deep internal strength to endure or even overcome adversity, Nori lapses into a shrill childish tantrum. Moreover, the majority of the novel propels Nori toward a grand moment of defying her grandmother, but in the final pages Lemmie pulls her punch, leading the reader to wonder if Nori has another plan up her sleeve to be played out in a sequel.

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5247-4636-0

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

LITERARY FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

Share your opinion of this book

More by Asha Lemmie

BOOK REVIEW

by Asha Lemmie

More About This Book

SEEN & HEARD

BOOK TO SCREEN

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

More by Kristin Hannah

by Kristin Hannah

PERSPECTIVES

THE FAMILIAR

by Leigh Bardugo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2024

Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.

In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.

Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.

Pub Date: April 9, 2024

ISBN: 9781250884251

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

FANTASY | GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | HISTORICAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FANTASY

More by Leigh Bardugo

by Leigh Bardugo

by Leigh Bardugo ; illustrated by Dani Pendergast

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

Advertisement

Supported by

You’re Going to Want to Join this Odyssey Through Postwar Japan

Asha Lemmie’s sprawling, thought-provoking debut novel, “Fifty Words for Rain” will give you 50 reasons to cancel the rest of your day.

• Share full article

By Elisabeth Egan

Welcome to Group Text, a monthly column for readers and book clubs about the novels, memoirs and short-story collections that make you want to talk, ask questions, and dwell in another world for a little bit longer.

In Kyoto in 1948, a mother makes her daughter promise to be obedient, then abandons her with grandparents she doesn’t know. For the next 20 years, the girl saves herself by breaking that promise again and again.

Sweeping story of a dysfunctional family? Check. Interesting window into life in postwar Japan? Check. Resilient, mysterious, resourceful survivor who blooms where she’s planted? Sold.

As a couch potato in a family of long-distance cyclists, I’ve always been envious of the red-faced exhilaration of a loved one returning from a workout. Luckily, novels like Asha Lemmie’s propulsive debut allow me to experience the high of the endurance athlete — consumed by a far-flung odyssey, coming up only for a sip of water (or leftover potato salad). I inhaled FIFTY WORDS FOR RAIN (Dutton, 464 pp., $26) in one day; I had no choice.

“Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist,” Noriko Kamiza’s mother tells her when she stops their car across the street from an imposing walled estate in Kyoto. Noriko steps onto the pavement, clutching her suitcase, noticing for the first time that her mother doesn’t have any luggage. Lemmie writes, “She could not so much as blink as she watched the car speed down the street, around the corner and out of sight.” Nori is only 8 years old, but she understands that her mother is gone for good.

If you are a “ Flowers in the Attic ” enthusiast, this story may give you a sense of déjà vu. There’s the unfamiliar ancestral home, the abusive grandmother who locks Nori away in a garret and the clueless grandfather who must not be disturbed. But, while V.C. Andrews ’s Dollenganger siblings had each other for company (ahem), Nori is alone.

Three times a week, the girl gets lessons in reading, writing, math and history. She endures painful daily scrubs with bleach and “the finest magic bath soap,” administered by a maid at the bidding of Nori’s grandmother, Lady Yuko, who wants to erase evidence of her married daughter’s affair with an African-American soldier. (The two met in 1939, when he was on leave in Japan.) The Kamiza family has ties to the emperor: Lady Yuko is his cousin, her husband is the emperor’s adviser. Nori’s skin color — and her existence — are a threat to their imperial status.

For better or for worse, time moves at warp speed in Lemmie’s world: 30 pages later, we’ve leapfrogged over three years. Suddenly, Nori learns that she has a half brother, Akira, who is about to move into the grim mansion following the death of his father. He becomes Nori’s champion, insisting that she be allowed outside, introducing her to music and serving as her first real friend. Scenes where the siblings are together are among the most moving in this emotionally draining (in a good way) novel, but they still bring with them a sense of foreboding. Are we supposed to trust Akira? Is he a stand-up guy or his grandmother’s pawn?

The answer becomes clear when Lady Yuko sells Nori to a man who takes her to an okiya , where she will live among geisha until she is sold to the highest bidder. Here, the perspective shifts so we see Nori through the eyes of Kiyomi, the madam who runs the place: “Even if she is coming apart at the seams, she will not show it to me.” This is what we have come to expect from our unflappable heroine.

I don’t want to spoil the suspense, so I’ll just say that Nori lives many lives in this riveting, occasionally melodramatic, always entertaining novel. She is both a prisoner and a woman of the world — finding her way from Kyoto to Tokyo to Paris and London, quietly unsinkable and fiercely loyal to her few allies. Nori always feels slightly out of reach, as if Lemmie never allows you to look her straight in the eye; that’s part of the allure here. The other part is the satisfaction of watching a determined person make her way to the top of a mountain alone. “Fifty Words for Grit” might not have the same ring as “Fifty Words for Rain,” but it would have been an apt title for this tale of adventure and survival.

[ Read an excerpt from “Fifty Words for Rain.” ]

Discussion Questions

How do Nori’s friendships make her feel less alone as a mixed race person?

What were your thoughts on the different viewpoints throughout the book? Did you have any trouble figuring out whose eyes you were looking through, and did you want to see through Nori’s?

When Lemmie introduced a long-lost diary to the mix, were you intrigued? Skeptical? Did its contents help you understand or forgive the person who wrote it?

Suggested Reading

“ White Oleander ,” by Janet Fitch. A teenager endures a series of abusive foster homes after her charismatic mother is sent to jail for murder. This story takes place in Los Angeles 50 years after “Fifty Words for Rain,” but Fitch’s twisty melodrama contains a familiar sense of longing for a person just out of reach.

“ The Namesake ,” by Jhumpa Lahiri. If you’re interested in characters who straddle two worlds, Lahiri’s novel is required reading — in fact, it’s the keystone of the syllabus. Meet Gogol Ganguli, the American-born son of Indian immigrants, and weep and cheer for him as he, like Nori, tries to juggle two identities.

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

How did fan culture take over? And why is it so scary? Justin Taylor’s novel “Reboot” examines the convergence of entertainment , online arcana and conspiracy theory.

Jamaica Kincaid and Kara Walker unearth botany’s buried history  to figure out how our gardens grow.

A new photo book reorients dusty notions of a classic American pastime with  a stunning visual celebration of black rodeo.

Two hundred years after his death, this Romantic poet is still worth reading . Here’s what made Lord Byron so great.

Harvard’s recent decision to remove the binding of a notorious volume  in its library has thrown fresh light on a shadowy corner of the rare book world.

Bus stations. Traffic stops. Beaches. There’s no telling where you’ll find the next story based in Accra, Ghana’s capital . Peace Adzo Medie shares some of her favorites.

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

• Bookreporter
• ReadingGroupGuides
• AuthorsOnTheWeb

The Book Report Network

Sign up for our newsletters!

Regular Features

Author spotlights, "bookreporter talks to" videos & podcasts, "bookaccino live: a lively talk about books", favorite monthly lists & picks, seasonal features, book festivals, sports features, bookshelves.

• Coming Soon

Newsletters

• Weekly Update
• On Sale This Week
• Spring Preview
• Winter Reading
• Holiday Cheer
• Fall Preview
• Summer Reading

Word of Mouth

Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, fifty words for rain.

• About the Book

From debut author Asha Lemmie, a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman's quest for acceptance in post-World War II Japan.

Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.”

Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin.

The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond --- a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it --- a battle that just might cost her everything.

Spanning decades and continents, FIFTY WORDS FOR RAIN is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free.

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

• Publication Date: June 8, 2021
• Genres: Fiction , Historical Fiction
• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Dutton
• ISBN-10: 152474638X
• ISBN-13: 9781524746384

• Jan 22, 2021

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie | Book Review + Questions

Updated: Sep 12, 2023

Hello! Another month, another book! 😀📘

For this month's book club, we read Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie . This is the story of Nori, the child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover. We are taken on an emotional journey reading Nori's life post WWII. I won't go into too many details here (no spoilers!), just this one though - after all she went through I wished there could have been a better ending to her journey. I wanted to love this book. I really did. Unfortunately, when I was done I was left with a feeling of frustration and disappointed. It felt like watching a friend heading straight for disaster, which was quite hard to read truthfully.

"Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "If a woman knows nothing else, she should know how to be silent. . . . Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza's first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her shameful skin. The illegitimate child of a Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Though her grandparents take her in, they do so only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life for what it is, despite her natural intellect and nagging curiosity about what lies outside the attic's walls. But when chance brings her legitimate older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him the first person who will allow her to question, and the siblings form an unlikely but powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything." - Goodreads

Book Club Questions

What is the significance of the title "Fifty Words for Rain"?

Would you have given a different title?

What does nature represent in Nori's life?

How did the book make you feel?

Which character did you most relate to and why?

Did any part of the book shock you?

Have you previously read a similar book or set in Japan?

Nori faced abuse for many years. Where do you think she got her strength to keep her going?

Why do you think Akira and Nori formed a very powerful bond?

Did you lose interest reading the rest of the story after "the accident"?

What does Nori learn from reading her mother's diaries?

Were there times you disagreed with a character's actions? What would you have done differently?

How does Nori transform throughout the book?

What do you think Nori's grandma means when she says "many, and none" in answer to Nori's question about having regrets?

What do you think of the ending? How might you have changed it?

By the way ... the author, Asha Lemmie, and I exchanged messages online which I did not expect at all. She was very nice about me asking her some questions.

What was your writing inspiration for this book?

Can you explain the ending?

Why didn't Nori look for her American family?

What happened to her mom?

How do you see Nori's future?

She answered to one, about the ending, and politely avoided the others. I have a little feeling that perhaps a Book 2 might be a possibility. 😊

xoxo Elodie

• Books, Music, Series, & Movies

Related Posts

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri | Book Review + Questions

Book Review + Questions: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab | Book Review + Questions

• Member Login
• Library Patron Login

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Search: Title Author Article Search String:

Fifty Words for Rain : Book summary and reviews of Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

Fifty Words for Rain

by Asha Lemmie

Readers' rating:

Published Sep 2020 464 pages Genre: Literary Fiction Publication Information

Rate this book

About this book

Book summary.

From debut author Asha Lemmie, a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman's quest for acceptance in post-World War II Japan.

Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza's first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents' imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin. The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything. Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free.

• "Beyond the Book" articles
• Free books to read and review (US only)
• Find books by time period, setting & theme
• Read-alike suggestions by book and author
• Book club discussions
• and much more!
• Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
• More about membership!

Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"Lemmie's sweeping historical backdrop, from the post–World War II decline of minor royalty through the expanding liberations of the 1960s, is breathtaking. Unfortunately, Nori's own metamorphosis into a strong young woman is inconsistent and a bit confusing...A bold historical portrait of a woman overcoming oppression marred by inconsistent character development." - Kirkus Reviews "Lemmie makes a few bewildering narrative choices...but she keeps the reader guessing and ends with a staggering gut punch. Sometimes bleak, sometimes hopeful, Lemmie's heartbreaking story of familial obligations packs an emotional wallop." - Publishers Weekly "Lemmie's debut novel is a gripping historical tale that will transport readers through myriad emotions…Lemmie intimately draws the readers into every aspect of Noriko's complex story, leading us through the decades and across the continents this adventure spans, bringing us to anger, tears, and small pockets of joy. A truly ambitious and remarkable debut." - Booklist " Fifty Words for Rain is a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together. This coming of age tale about a biracial girl in postwar Japan is an assured, confident debut by a talented new author." - Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale "This virtuosic debut enthralled me from the very first page. Lemmie's compelling and compassionate portrait of a young girl in post-WWII Japan is meticulously researched and beautifully crafted. What a heartbreaking, exceptional story by a sublime talent—I can't wait to see what she does next!" - Fiona Davis, nationally bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue " Fifty Words for Rain is an impressive debut novel about a mixed-race girl growing up in post WWII Japan. Sensitive and bristling with closely-observed humanity, Asha Lemmie tells a story that we have not heard before with an ending that is as surprising as it is brutally honest." - Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Author Information

Asha lemmie.

Asha Lemmie was born in Virginia and raised in Maryland. She attended school in Washington, D.C., where she was fortunate to be exposed to a wide variety of cultural influences. She developed a passionate interest in reading at the age of two and has been writing stories since the age of five. After graduating from Boston College with a degree in English literature and creative writing, she relocated to New York City, where she worked in book publishing. Fifty Words for Rain is her first novel.

More Author Information

More Recommendations

Readers also browsed . . ..

• Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
• One Hour of Fervor by Muriel Barbery
• All Fours by Miranda July
• Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon
• A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
• Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet
• The Witches of Bellinas by J. Nicole Jones
• Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Leaving by Roxana Robinson

more literary fiction...

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more

BookBrowse Book Club

Members Recommend

The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson

From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton

As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

Win This Book

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Solve this clue:

and be entered to win..

Your guide to exceptional           books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info and giveaways by email.

• Biggest New Books
• Non-Fiction
• All Categories
• First Readers Club Daily Giveaway
• How It Works

Get the Book Marks Bulletin

Email address:

• Categories Fiction Fantasy Graphic Novels Historical Horror Literary Literature in Translation Mystery, Crime, & Thriller Poetry Romance Speculative Story Collections Non-Fiction Art Biography Criticism Culture Essays Film & TV Graphic Nonfiction Health History Investigative Journalism Memoir Music Nature Politics Religion Science Social Sciences Sports Technology Travel True Crime

April 22 – April 26, 2024

• Marian Bull recommends eight cookbooks worth reading cover to cover
• Colin Dickey considers Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’ legacy
• Kaveh Akbar on his obsessive pursuit of basketball cards

• Getting Started
• Start a Book Club
• Book Club Ideas/Help▼
• Our Featured Clubs ▼
• Popular Books
• Book Reviews
• Reading Guides
• Blog Home ▼
• Find a Recipe
• About LitCourse
• Course Catalog

Fifty Words for Rain (Lemmie)

Fifty Words for Rain   Asha Lemmie, 2020 Penguin Publishing 464 pp. ISBN-13: 9781524746360  Summary From debut author Asha Lemmie, a sweeping, heartrending coming-of-age novel about a young woman's quest for acceptance in post-World War II Japan . Kyoto, Japan, 1948. "Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist." Such is eight-year-old Noriko "Nori" Kamiza’s first lesson.

—She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. —She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. —She will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin.

The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything. Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free. ( From the publisher .)

• Next >>

LitLovers © 2024

Fifty Words for Rain

52 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prelude-Part 1

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Summary and Study Guide

Fifty Words for Rain (2020), by Asha Lemmie, is a historical novel that is set in post-World War II Japan. The story follows Nori Kamiza, the illegitimate child of an aristocratic Japanese mother and a Black American soldier. She struggles with her identity and the societal rejection she faces for her multiracial heritage. Raised by her rigid maternal grandparents, Nori has a close but complex relationship with her half-brother Akira, a violin prodigy. Nori’s journey will lead her far beyond the narrow confines of her grandparents’ estate and redefine her concepts of self, family, and womanhood. Fifty Words for Rain was Asha Lemmie’s debut novel. It was a New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick.

This guide references the Dutton/Penguin Random House 2020 edition of the novel.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

• 7,550+ In-Depth Study Guides
• 4,900+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
• Downloadable PDFs

Content Warning : The novel depicts instances of colorism, racism, and related prejudices. It depicts physical abuse, sexual assault, and child trafficking. It also depicts self-harm, death by suicide, a violent death in a car accident, and the death of a baby.

Plot Summary

The SuperSummary difference

• 8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
• Study Guides you won ' t find anywhere else
• 100+ new titles every month

Shortly after the end of World War II, eight-year-old Nori Kamiza is abandoned by her mother, Seiko, at Nori’s maternal grandparents’ Kyoto estate. Seiko descends from Japanese aristocracy, and she became pregnant with Nori when she had an affair with a Black American soldier. Nori’s grandparents are ashamed that Nori was born out of wedlock and treat her cruelly; they hide her in the attic and attempt to whiten her skin with painful bleaching treatments.

When Nori is 10 years old, she meets her 15-year-old half-brother, Akira, who is Seiko’s legitimate son. Akira is the official Kamiza family heir. He moves to Kyoto from Tokyo, but he finds the old-world traditions of his grandparents oppressive. Akira gradually warms up to Nori, and fights their grandmother, Yuko, on Nori’s behalf. He is a musical prodigy and teaches Nori to play the violin. Yuko does not approve of the siblings’ close relationship. When Akira returns to school, Yuko secretly sends Nori away to a brothel. Akira is furious when he finds out.

Nori, now 11, is spared actual sex work at the brothel. Her education and high status allow her to remain a musical performer, and she plays the violin for the male clientele. When Nori is 13, she is sold to a mysterious patron and sent to Tokyo. Determined to escape a fate of sexual slavery, Nori attempts suicide at her patron’s estate. She is saved just in time and discovers that her “patron” is actually Akira, who has been searching for her for all this time.

Akira arranges a meeting with their grandparents, which Nori begs to attend. Akira negotiates a deal with Yuko: He says the siblings will have safety and freedom until Akira turns 21, when he will transition into his role as the Kamiza heir. Nori will continue to live with him. Nori declares her allegiance to Akira, prompting their grandfather to attack her. Akira saves Nori, but the negotiations end abruptly. Nori learns that her existence is a legal secret, precluding her from school or travel abroad. Akira has official documents forged for her, just in case.

Akira travels to Europe to study the violin. While he is gone, Ayame, a trusted housekeeper at the Tokyo estate, gives Seiko’s diaries to Nori. Nori learns about her mother’s past: Seiko’s dreams of playing the piano, her heartbroken return to Japan from Paris, and her unhappy arranged marriage to Akira’s father.

When Akira returns from Europe, he brings British friends with him: Will and Alice Stafford , who are cousins. Nori and Alice become fast friends. Will flirts with Nori, though she is not interested. He rapes her on her 14th birthday; Nori keeps this a secret, but she is increasingly distressed by him.

After Will and Alice leave, Nori and Akira encounter a businessman who invites Akira to perform at his annual Christmas concert; Akira declines since he has other travel plans, but he suggests that Nori perform instead. On the eve of the concert, Nori is delightedly surprised when Akira arrives to accompany her as her pianist. It is his 21st birthday. The concert is a success, but as Nori and Akira leave the event, their car crashes. Nori is gravely injured and Akira dies. Yuko blames Nori for Akira’s death and exiles her from Japan.

Nori drifts through Europe, and seven years pass. When she is 23, she attends a concert in Paris that Will is in. He discovers her in the audience and tells Alice, who is now 26, married, and expecting her third child. Alice is delighted to be reunited with her friend and Nori moves in with her in London. Alice hires a piano teacher, Noah, for her daughters, and over time, Noah and Nori fall in love.

The following year, Nori and Noah begin to plan their wedding. Then, Nori receives a letter informing her of Yuko’s death and naming Nori the sole heir to the estate. Nori doesn’t want to return to Japan but hopes that by doing so, she can finally end things with her family. However, when she arrives in Kyoto, she learns the letter was a trick: Yuko is dying but not dead. Nori is furious, especially when she learns that the car accident that killed Akira was engineered by her grandfather. Yuko tells her it was meant to kill Nori, not Akira. Now, Yuko wants Nori to cut ties with her friends in London and focus on her political and aristocratic duties as heir to the Kamiza estate.

At first, Nori wants to leave immediately. However, she learns that she is pregnant with Noah’s child. This discovery pushes her to accept the mantle of Kamiza heir since she wants to change the family for the better. She breaks off her engagement with Noah and gives birth to a son. At the end of the novel, Nori is determined to be a powerful, canny matriarch of the Kamiza clan.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Featured Collections

View Collection

Popular Book Club Picks

Pride & Shame

Sexual Harassment & Violence

World War II

Asha Lemmie

Author of Fifty Words For Rain

The Wildest Sun

Available for pre-order now.

PRAISE FOR FIFTY WORDS FOR RAIN

© 2023 Asha Lemmie, all rights reserved. Website design by Mira T. Lee: MIRA T. CREATIVE .

to submit an obituary

To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to [email protected] . There is no option to place them through our website. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions.

General Information:

• Your full name,
• Address (City, State, Zip Code),
• Phone number,
• And an alternate phone number (if any)

Obituary Specification:

• Name of Deceased,
• Obituary Text,
• A photo in a JPEG or PDF file is preferable, TIF and other files are accepted, we will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
• Ad Run dates
• There is a discount for running more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply.
• If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply, contact us for more information.

Verification of Death:

In order to publish obituaries a name and phone number of funeral home/cremation society is required. We must contact the funeral home/cremation society handling the arrangements during their business hours to verify the death. If the body of the deceased has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program, or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification.

Please allow enough time to contact them especially during their limited weekend hours.

A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose but only one of these two options are necessary.

Guestbook and Outside Websites:

We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in print and online. We may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead; contact us with any questions regarding this matter.

Obituary Process:

Once your submission is completed, we will fax or email a proof for review prior to publication in the newspaper. This proof includes price and days the notice is scheduled to appear.

Please review the proof carefully. We must be notified of errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press based on each day’s deadlines.

After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that may occur after final proofing.

Payment Procedure:

Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadline specified below in our deadline schedule. Please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information after you have received the proof and approved its contents.

Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations

EFT: Check by phone. Please provide your routing number and account number.

• The minimum charge is $162 for the first 10 lines.
• Every line after the first 10 is $12.20.
• If the ad is under 10 lines it will be charged the minimum rate of $162.
• On a second run date, the lines are $8.20 per line, starting w/ the first line.
• For example: if first run date was 20 lines the cost would be $164.
• Each photo published is $125 per day.
• For example: 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges at $500.

Please follow deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the day requested.

MEMORIAM (NON-OBITUARY) REQUEST

Unlike an obituary, Memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. The rates for a memoriam differ from obituaries.

HOURS: Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 5:00PM (CLOSED WEEKENDS and HOLIDAYS)

Please submit your memoriam ad to [email protected] or call 651-228-5280.

Books | Literary pick for April 28: A fundraiser for…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Submit to Stumbleupon (Opens in new window)

Today's Paper

• Movies & TV
• Food & Drink
• Treasure Hunt

Things to Do

Books | literary pick for april 28: a fundraiser for rain taxi review.

Rain Taxi Review hosts an evening titled BANneD Books on May 3, its second annual event at Granada Theater in Minneapolis. This fundraiser for the nationally circulated literary journal will be a program of words and music, including musicians The Muatas, Willie Wisely and author/artist Zak Sally, former bassist for the Minnesota band Low, as well as readings by multi-talented Dessa and poet Danny Klecko.

Special guest will be Carolyn Kuebler, who will launch her debut novel, “ Liquid, Fragile, Perishable ,” at the event. Kuebler has deep roots in the Twin Cities, having co-founded Rain Taxi Review of Books with Randall Heath. When she left Minnesota in 1999, Eric Lorberer took the helm of the Minneapolis-based publication that also sponsors readings and the popular Twin Cities Book Festival.

Kuebler, who edits the New England Review at Middlebury College in Vermont, recalled for her Melville House publisher her years in Minnesota:

“When I moved after college I had no idea what an indie press was, much less that the Twin Cities were such a hotbed for them. But I spent a formative decade there in the 1990s, and had my first publishing internship at Milkweed Editions while I worked downstairs at the Coyote Cafe. I later became a bookseller at Borders in Uptown (Minneapolis) a few years and wrote book reviews and other features for the late great City Pages. I then made my way to the Hungry Mind bookstore in St. Paul, where I was second-in-command for events — which at the time happened multiple times a week. David Unowsky was great at giving us a lot of creative freedom there, so I also made lots of displays and ordered lit journals. Most significantly, and thanks to Eric Lorberer most lastingly, in 1996 I started Rain Taxi with a couple of friends, and we published the first issue in 1997. I look back on that time as a kind of literature and publishing grade school, with a very self-directed program. I used to love riding my bike from Minneapolis to St. Paul, swimming and walking around the lakes and checking out shows at First Avenue and 7th Street Entry. The John Ashbery bridge from the Walker Art Center to Loring Park epitomized my sense of what the cities were all about.”

Kuebler’s novel, “Liquid, Fragile, Perishable,” tells the story of three young women in a small Vermont town with characters including newly transplanted New Yorkers who are among well-to-do couples building giant houses in the rural area, an old-school and decent Christian beekeeper whose wife keeps their daughter on a tight leash so she isn’t contaminated by girls at the local high school, young people from a hardscrabble family with few morals, and a lone and aging woman who believes she can live by herself even if it means walking six miles carrying groceries. All their lives are affected when the newcomers’ son falls in love with the beekeeper’s daughter.

The novel, one of Oprah Daily’s most anticipated reads of 2024, earned a starred review in Kirkus: “At times dark, at other times beautiful, Kuebler’s debut shines in its precision. It picks apart each character’s thoughts in an unusual clipped stream-of-consciousness narrative. The characters’ points of view fit together like an elaborate quilt, gradually coming together into a satisfying whole.”

Rain Taxi Spring Fling

• When: 7 p.m. Friday, May 3
• Where: Granada Theater, 3022 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.
• Cost: General admission $30; VIP ticket for two $150.
• Info/tickets: Tickets can be purchased in advance at: raintaxi.com/rain-taxi-fundraiser .

More in Books

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

Books | readers and writers: minnesota’s battle lake connects mystery writer with bookstore owner — and now a book club.

Books | Literary calendar for week of April 28

Books | Readers and writers: Nonfiction recommendations for spring

Books | Literary calendar for week of April 21

Books | Readers and writers: Two mysteries and something a little lighter

Books | Literary calendar for week of April 14

Fifty Words for Rain: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel) › Customer reviews

Customer reviews.

Fifty Words for Rain: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later., from the united states, there was a problem loading comments right now. please try again later..

• ← Previous page
• Next page →
• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices