The Teahouse Fire Audiobook By Ellis Avery cover art

The Teahouse Fire

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The Teahouse Fire

By: Ellis Avery
Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
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The fates of two women, one American, one Japanese, become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and Westernization.

The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter, Yukako.

Pasts shrouded in secrets and mysterious traditions rocked by modernization make The Teahouse Fire a compelling and provocative story, lush in details and epic in scope.

©2006 Ellis Avery. All rights reserved (P)2006 HighBridge Company Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature

Critic reviews

  • Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration-Female, 2008

"Author Lee Smith's skill at capturing women's voices is a kind of literary music stemming from our ever-evolving American family life." (Midwest Book Review)
"Highly recommended." (Library Journal)
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I found the narration entertaining enough. The story line needed a story board to keep the lines straight. but generally an okay read if one appreciates Japan..

family ties

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I enjoyed this book and it was a good history of Japan in the 1900s. It had a good ending and the characters were engaging. Excellent reader.

Excellent

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This story is rich with insight into the Japanese culture from the eyes of a young foreign girl. It is a magical story and the narrator does a wonderful job.

Magical Cultural Experience

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A good "listen" however the story line is slow. I have yet to figure out why it is included in a lesbian search. I suppose because it have one small lesbian encounter by the main character. It has taken me 4 months to listen to this book. If I was reading it I probably would have put it down a long time ago!

Good but slow!

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This book is rich with detail of life in the late 1800's in Japan. I was transfixed by the detail of the clothing, culture, and tradition of a country that is magical. I lived in Japan in 1947-49 and 1951-53 as a child. This book helped me to visualize life in another time period. I went to the computer often to get more information about the lifestyle of the Japanese people. It is fascinating.

What a great book!

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I cried few times from sadness and happiness. this book is shear beauty. I will recommend it to anyone and everyone.

absolutely amazing book!

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I really enjoyed this book. Usually when I download from audible I read the amazon reviews but not this time as I was in a hurry. The details about life in Japan fascinated me as did the complexities of the characters. Still, I was utterly caught off-guard by the love story. I didn't expect it and was happily surprised that this book doesn't follow a "Cinderella" format. The narrator's voice and characterizations were very pleasing and appropriate. I did struggle at first with this grandmotherly-sounding person talking so vividly about sex but my apprehensions didn't last long. I wouldn't call this book "lovely" but it was - strong.

Unexpected and Strong

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I tried. Very descriptive but too long involved and hard to keep track. I didn’t finish

Too many characters

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This is one of those stories that words cannot define. From the literary excellence to the narration, the novel will capture the listener from beginning to end. It taps on all the emotions one would expect from an exceptional masterpiece while embracing the listener in the lives of its fabulous characters. Despite its fiction story line, the writing consistently flows in harmony with Asian history and culture and is written in such a way that gives credibility to the entire novel. Thank you Audible.com for making this outstanding selection available.

Captivating

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Women interest me, but listening to the smalltalk of two young women, and nothing else, was boring.

Only girl talk

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