-
The Samurai's Garden
- A Novel
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $26.59
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms in Tokyo, two orphaned brothers are growing up with loving grandparents who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows early signs of promise in sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating exquisite masks for actors in the Noh theater. But as the ripples of war spread all the way to their quiet neighborhood, the brothers must put their dreams on hold - and then forge their own paths in a new Japan.
-
-
Another great story from Ms. Tsukyama
- By L. Walker on 12-13-07
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Color of Air
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii, Natalie Naudus
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father.
-
-
Beautiful, just beautiful!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-18-20
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Old Man and the Boy
- By: Robert Ruark
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.
-
-
Glad to see this Classic on Audible
- By Sean Jeffries on 01-03-19
By: Robert Ruark
-
A Hundred Flowers
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
China, 1957: Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society. “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.
-
-
Excellent book about China revolution.
- By Kathleen on 09-29-12
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Breasts and Eggs
- By: Mieko Kawakami
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Jeena Yi
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Breasts & Eggs paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront oppressive mores and their own uncertainties on the road to finding peace and futures they can truly call their own. It tells the story of three women: the 30-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent.
-
-
Masterful Writing and Performance
- By Noelle on 03-01-21
By: Mieko Kawakami
-
Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms in Tokyo, two orphaned brothers are growing up with loving grandparents who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows early signs of promise in sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating exquisite masks for actors in the Noh theater. But as the ripples of war spread all the way to their quiet neighborhood, the brothers must put their dreams on hold - and then forge their own paths in a new Japan.
-
-
Another great story from Ms. Tsukyama
- By L. Walker on 12-13-07
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Color of Air
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii, Natalie Naudus
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father.
-
-
Beautiful, just beautiful!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-18-20
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
The Old Man and the Boy
- By: Robert Ruark
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.
-
-
Glad to see this Classic on Audible
- By Sean Jeffries on 01-03-19
By: Robert Ruark
-
A Hundred Flowers
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
China, 1957: Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society. “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.
-
-
Excellent book about China revolution.
- By Kathleen on 09-29-12
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Breasts and Eggs
- By: Mieko Kawakami
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Jeena Yi
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Breasts & Eggs paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront oppressive mores and their own uncertainties on the road to finding peace and futures they can truly call their own. It tells the story of three women: the 30-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent.
-
-
Masterful Writing and Performance
- By Noelle on 03-01-21
By: Mieko Kawakami
-
The Library of Legends
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, 19-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than 100 students, faculty, and staff must walk 1,000 miles to the safety of China’s western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends.
-
-
Wonderful and Umique!
- By D. Fields on 02-18-22
By: Janie Chang
-
A Place for Us
- A Novel
- By: Fatima Farheen Mirza
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta, Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia, their headstrong eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride.
-
-
Started on Audible, finished with a book in my hand
- By CO Mom on 09-17-18
-
If Cats Disappeared from the World
- A Novel
- By: Genki Kawamura
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat, Cabbage, to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the Devil appears to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, our narrator will get one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week....
-
-
Kind of a Fabulous Fable!
- By Maggie Hess on 10-02-19
By: Genki Kawamura
-
My Bondage and My Freedom
- By: Frederick Douglass, Dr. James M'Cune Smith - introduction
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is ex-slave Frederick Douglass' second autobiography. It was written after 10 years of reflection following his legal emancipation in 1846, and his break with his mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, catapulted Douglass into the international spotlight as the foremost spokesman for American blacks, both freed and slave.
-
-
Must read!
- By Ernest P. Clover on 03-06-19
By: Frederick Douglass, and others
-
Something to Live For
- By: Richard Roper
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All Andrew wants is to be normal. That's why his coworkers believe he has the perfect wife and two children waiting at home for him after a long day. But the truth is, his life isn't exactly as people think...and his little white lie is about to catch up with him. Because in all of Andrew's efforts to fit in, he's forgotten one important thing: how to really live. And maybe, it's finally time for him to start.
-
-
Funny and touching
- By Ceclila on 05-31-19
By: Richard Roper
-
Circe
- By: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring, like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
-
-
Not worth the hype but still good
- By Yvonne den Besten on 06-21-19
By: Madeline Miller
-
The Passenger
- A Novel
- By: Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, André Aciman
- Narrated by: Philip Boehm, Neil Hellegers
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Berlin, November 1938. Jewish shops have been ransacked and looted, synagogues destroyed. As storm troopers pound on his door, Otto Silbermann, a respected businessman who fought for Germany in the Great War, is forced to sneak out the back of his own home. Turned away from establishments he had long patronized, and fearful of being exposed as a Jew despite his Aryan looks, he boards a train.
-
-
Top-notch novel
- By R. Klein on 05-31-21
By: Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, and others
-
The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
- By: Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Val Eliot, a young woman working on an English farm during the war, meets Mike, a US Air Force pilot stationed nearby. When Val rescues a Border Collie named Peter Woodhouse, who is being mistreated by his owner, she realizes the dog would actually be safer with Mike. And so Peter Woodhouse finds a new home on the air force base, and Val finds herself falling in love.
-
-
wonderful
- By T. Bellan on 04-23-18
-
The Gift of Rain
- By: Tan Twan Eng
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin, Luke Thompson
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell and has garnered comparisons to celebrated wartime storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits. In 1939, 16-year-old Philip Hutton - the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading families - feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities.
-
-
Emotive and complex.
- By Jeff Lacy on 11-21-18
By: Tan Twan Eng
-
Popisho
- A Novel
- By: Leone Ross
- Narrated by: Leone Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Somewhere far away - or maybe right nearby - lies an archipelago called Popisho. A place of stunning beauty and incorrigible mischief, destiny, and mystery, it is also a place in need of change. A storm is brewing. Before it comes, before the end of the day, this wildly imaginative narrative will take us across the islands, their history, and into the lives of unforgettable characters.
-
-
Luscious language, and compassion.
- By Susan on 08-29-21
By: Leone Ross
-
The Songbook of Benny Lament
- By: Amy Harmon
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York, 1960: For Benny Lament, music is his entire life. With his father’s deep ties to the mob, the Bronx piano man has learned that love and family can get you in trouble. So he keeps to himself, writing songs for other musicians, avoiding the spotlight…until the night his father brings him to see Esther Mine sing. Esther is a petite powerhouse with a gorgeous voice. And when Benny writes a hit song and performs it with her, their collaboration thrusts the duo onto the national stage…and stirs up old issues and new scrutiny that the mob--and Benny--would rather avoid.
-
-
Songbook in the Key of Benny
- By Karen Dee on 03-17-21
By: Amy Harmon
-
The Binding
- A Novel
- By: Bridget Collins
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
-
-
Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
Publisher's Summary
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about The Samurai's Garden
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bay Area Califa
- 06-25-18
A Novel Painted with a Master's Brush
This novel was like a beautiful painting. It carried me through foreign landscapes and across a thousand skies.
I loved the way the characters were removed from the mechanics of their time. Removed from cars and planes. Removed from the influence and noise of avarice. Each time I listened, the narrator took me to that place. I felt my pulse relax and my mind focus on what was important, the words and the people. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- karinzart
- 07-11-17
Unusual story line
I enjoyed this book because of the unusual 'zen-like' story line. Well researched historical data about Japan's invasion of China in the '30's. Good, not great.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kim J Hood
- 08-24-17
Extremely Pleasant
I purchased this book solely on the basis of the reviews for it. And they were right! This is a lovely, melodic, touching enjoyable book. One of my favorites.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- whistler
- 07-09-17
Historical and spiritual fiction, pulls you in...
Leaves the reader with much to think about. Well developed characters, engaging storyline, human character studies in a very readable work of fiction.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tina
- 06-12-17
Love this book!
I first read this book years ago and was excited to see it was available as an audiobook because the story is so beautiful. I think it is one of only a handful of books I have reread again and again. I will definitely be listening to it again!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- elizabeth
- 10-05-19
Wonderful!
Wonderful story of deep human connections, that emphasizes the fact that everyone has a story to tell and we should never judge anyone before hearing that story. If the reader is looking for fast paced action, they won't find it here - which better suits this book. I highly recommend this book.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Whitlox Homestead
- 04-09-19
Gentle coming of age story
For a book that deals with some really traumatic and difficult topics, this book is a very pleasant and gentle read. The images and characters come to life in the narration. Recommended.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ray
- 02-19-18
A story of friendship and nature
Meaningful connection. It is available and accessible if we open ourselves to it. A beautiful garden grows when It is properly tended. Thank you for this wonderful story
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul Vincent
- 10-15-17
Outstanding Story
First of all I love her writing this book was no exception to others I have read great story and great performance from the reader !
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lymer
- 11-01-21
Good read
Reader was very good, and I would highly recommend this Audible version of Gail Tsukiyama’s book. The reader manages the character voices well, paces the reading well, and does such a great job that he brought the story to life.
1 person found this helpful