The Garden of Evening Mists

Complex and powerful . . . sophisticated and satisfying * * Sunday Times * *
It is impossible to resist the opening sentence of this sumptuously produced novel . . . It showcases Tan Twan Eng as a master of cultural complexities * * Guardian * *
Elegant and atmospheric * * The Times * *
An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory . . . its beauty never comes to rest * * Independent * *
Tantalisingly evocative . . . Suffused with a satisfying richness of colour and character, it still abounds in hidden passageways and occult corners. Mysteries and secrets persist. Tan dwells often on the borderline states, the in between areas, of Japanese art: the archer's hiatus before the arrow speeds from the bow; the patch of skin that a master of the horimono tattoo will leave bare; or the "beautiful and sorrowful" moment "just as the last leaf is about to drop" . . . An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory * * Independent * *
A beautiful, dark and wistful exploration of loss and remembrance, that will stay with you long after reading * * Daily Telegraph * *
War, art and memory join in a subtle story, notable for its ravishing prose, glorious sense of place, and mature alertness to the deceptive vistas of history -- Boyd Tonkin * * Independent * *
With ravishing sensuousness, it conjures up the lush landscapes and tea estates of Malaya during the 1950s Emergency, as reflections on Japanese aesthetic refinements in gardening and art intersect with recollections of Japanese wartime atrocities in a haunting novel about memory -- Peter Kemp * * The Sunday Times * *
This beautifully written book is full of arresting images . . . Achieved with the seemingly effortless poise of a remarkable fictional artistry, Tan Twan Eng's winning novel will be prized by all those who cannot resist the mastery of language * * Good Book Guide * *
This book is to be kept and re-read and revered for its elegant, lyrical prose * * Red * *