As a member of an aristocratic family, he would belong to the paternal side side and it is highly likely they would keep him in their extended family. Again, this is unlikely (although not impossible).

The half-brother Akira-he returns to his maternal grandparents after his father dies as the heir. The so-called disgrace of the illegitimate granddaughter would have been out of sight, out of mind. As an aristocrat she would have simply farmed Nori out to another family and have them raise her instead. I doubt if the grandmother would have resorted to skin lightening techniques and such cruel disciplinary measures. In fact, Japanese rarely strike children-and when the grandmother slaps Nori in the second chapter, that also felt false. (this is not to say it is impossible, but highly unlikely). I have NEVER heard of anyone in Japan beating a child in such a cold, systematic way. The first scene where the grandmother beats Nori's buttocks with a wooden spoon is a second area that is hard for me to swallow. It would have been a sprawling house with numerous tatami rooms. The three story house (while not impossible) is unlikely to have been the residence of this aristocratic family's country home in the 1940s. Attic? Anyone familiar with Japan or Japanese housing would immediately know that attics do not exist. When Chapter 1 opens, Nori is ten and has pretty much been held captive in her grandparents' attic for the past two years. Let's give Nori's mother a bit of time to meet the father, start a relationship, give birth, and then return the baby to her parents' estate-realistically Nori would be a toddler.

There would have been absolutely no way an American GI would have been in Japan in the late 1930s unless we are talking about an alternate universe. Well, the Occupation started after the war ended in 1945. The main character, Nori, with a Japanese mother and an African American GI father is supposedly born in 1940 and puts her at age 8 when the story starts. I can't imagine that the author didn't know. The first error is such a glaring one that I can't imagine how it got past the editorial team. As far as I'm concerned, fiction writers have the right to write about whatever they want.īut there are glaring errors that interfere with the the suspension of belief you need to fall in love with a novel. My feelings are not about whether or not someone has the 'right' to tackle this subject. Diane Nagatomo I am just 10% into the book and I'm considering abandoning it because of the huge mistakes that I have noted so far, which also makes me question the …more I am just 10% into the book and I'm considering abandoning it because of the huge mistakes that I have noted so far, which also makes me question the author's 'qualifications' and her 'research'.

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie