![]() ![]() ![]() In the 12th century Eichū (永忠), a monk, introduced green power tea to Japan and by the 13th century the Samurai were using it as part of their Zen Buddhist rituals. However, then Avery surprises the reader, since the art in question is not that of the geisha, but the tea ceremony, one of the oldest traditions and art forms of Japan and presented solely by men. The cover of the book, of a girl in a classical kimono, sets the scene for the milieu of Japan before World War II, “a closed world, an ancient art, a forbidden love”. At the time of its publication, readers of this well-mined genre would have been over-familiar with the reference framework of authors like Arthur Golden ( Memoirs of a Geisha – 1999), Sayo Masuda ( Autobiography of a Geisha – 2005) and Liza Dalby ( The Tale of Murasaki – 2001). The Teahouse Fire, set in Japan, is, for a change, not set in a geisha house in 18th or 19th century, or earlier. The Teahouse Fire, by Ellis Avery (Vintage, Random House, January 2008) ![]()
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