Review: The Peony Lantern

The Peony Lantern by Frances Watts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: purchased own copy

I had the privilege of a read along of this book with some girls from Read3r’z Re-Vu on Whatsapp featuring the lovely Frances Watts, the author. I was deliriously ecstatic and probably, then, read it so very closely so I can come up with ten thousand more questions than I would have if I read normally. However, Frances was so very gracious and answered them all with aplomb. I’ll be posting some of these Q&A in the next couple of days.

I have this fascination of the Japanese culture since my early teen years. I still remember vividly waiting for what feels like forever for the first volume of Sailor Moon and when the day arrived, hurriedly left school to get my hands on a copy. I’ve never since looked back though I have extended my tastebuds to include other Japanese flavoured literature. Nevertheless, I found that I still had lots to learn about Japan from my reading of The Peony Lantern.

Kasumi is a wonderful heroine. Born as a peasant, she lacks education and yet, she has the natural ability of observation. Needless to say, this often gets her into trouble. Her parents (we must believe, out of concern of her wellbeing) continue to remind her that

“the stake that sticks up gets hammered down.”

As the novel is told from Kasumi’s perspective, the readers are treated to her insights. And this ranged from her search of own identity to some hilarious conspiracy theories. Kasumi does not kick ass but is much fun to be with and with whom readers can identify with ease.

Firework Festival (ukiyo-e / woodblock print)
An inspiration to write this story was a woodblock print (not necessarily this one)

The plot itself was truly enjoyable. The first half wasn’t slow but the pace was ramped up in the second half and it really became un-put-down-able then. You just want to keep going to find out what the secret really is (I guessed correctly for this part) and then, you want to find out the answer to the mystery (this was a twist I appreciate). The Peony Lantern engaged my interest from the beginning and had me enthralled to the end.

If you’re a parent, let me assure you that this book is clean. There’s a bit of romance but Kasumi was quite the sensible girl to the end (and I just love her all the more!). There are many themes / topics for good conversation of gender, rank, education, culture, etc. I won’t hesitate in presenting this book as gifts to my nieces.

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