A richly illustrated and award-winning Japanese biography, history and exploration of cherry blossom told through the life of an English amateur botanist, rewritten for English readers
Naoko Abe is a Japanese journalist and non-fiction writer. She was the first female political writer to cover the prime minister's office, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry at Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers. Since moving to London with her British husband and their two boys in 2001, she has worked as a freelance writer and has published five books in Japanese. Her biography of Collingwood Ingram in Japanese won the prestigious Nihon Essayist Club Award in 2016. She has now written an adaptation of the book for English-language readers. She is a trained classical pianist and an advanced yoga practitioner.
This is not just a tale of trees, but of the symbolism of the
cherry tree to Japan: of endeavour, war and reconciliation
*Sunday Times, Books of the Year*
Sympathetic and engrossing... a portrait of great charm and
sophistication, rich in its natural and historical range,
guaranteeing that you won’t look at cherry blossoms the same way
again
*Guardian*
A remarkable book…excellent...fascinating, a treat for gardeners,
cherry-growers and historians
*Financial Times*
[A] deeply moving book -- beautifully written, and a huge
achievement in terms of research
*The Spectator*
Set against the narrative arc of Japanese history, journalist Naoko
Abe's account of the man behind the preservation of her country's
national symbol is both sympathetic and compelling... On reading
this book, beautifully illustrated with atmospheric period shots
and colour plates, you may well determine, as I have, to visit
Japan at cherry blossom time
*Sunday Express*
[A] lovely book… Two tensions animate this book: the difficulty of
sending fragile scions around the world and successfully grafting
them; and the wrenching historical context… It is hard to view the
blossoms of the somei-yashino with such tender joy after reading Ms
Abe’s book
*Economist*
An engaging biography of a man who "helped to change the face of
spring"
*Sunday Times*
A page turner... Naoko Abe parallels her biography with a
comprehensive history of cherries, intersected with major moments
in Japanese history... There is a heartwarming end to the tale that
the author spins with skill and erudition
*Country Life*
‘Cherry’ Ingram is a meticulously researched book: Abe undertook
dozens of interviews with relatives of the sakuramori… [and] sifted
through Ingram’s extensive diaries and condenses the often
impenetrable history of Japan’s feudal and imperial ages
*Daily Telegraph*
After reading [‘Cherry’ Ingram], the annual ritual of hanami
(flower-viewing) will never be quite the same again… an
extraordinary story
*The Times*
In retelling [Ingram’s] story from her own cultural perspective,
Abe has produced an engaging work that adds illuminating definition
to the world about which he wrote
*Gardens Illustrated*
An enchanting story about an Englishman’s attempts to preserve
Japan’s rich cherry tree heritage in the face of rapid
modernization
*Japan Times*
An admiring and engaging portrait of an eccentric British
enthusiast, one of the last great amateur naturalists of the
Edwardian Era
*Natural History Magazine*
Remarkable… Combining vast historical research, perceptive cultural
interpretation, and a gift for keen, biographical storytelling,
Abe’s study of one man’s passion for a singular plant species
celebrates the beneficial impact such enthusiasts can have on the
world at large
*Booklist*
Lovers of the outdoors, especially gardeners, will find much to
enjoy in Japanese journalist Abe’s first English-language book,
which won the Nihon Essayist Club Award in 2016. The author
engagingly chronicles the travels and plant-collecting adventures
of Collingwood Ingram… Charming
*Kirkus Review*
Like the sakura itself, Ms. Abe’s book is a quiet pleasure
*Wall Street Journal*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
