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| Plot Summary of The Bride's Kimono |
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HarperCollins, Sep 2001, 25.00, 310 pp.
ISBN: 0060199334
When the invitation came from the Washington DC Museum of Asian Arts to provide a talk on Edo era kimonos, American expatriate Rei Shimura accepts. Not only is this a chance to speak on her favorite topic, the Tokyo antiques-buyer will visit her parents in California. As Rei transports the exhibit with her, she meets Hana Matsura and several other Japanese female tourists on the plane.
In Washington not long after the pan Pacific Ocean flight lands, an invaluable uninsured kimono is stolen from Rei and than someone murders Hana, who had Rei's passport at the time. With her former boyfriend lawyer Hugh Glendinning turning up and the police suspecting her, Rei begins making her own inquiries to prove her innocence at the same time she wonders why she cares so much for both Hugh and her wealthy Japanese boyfriend Takeo Kayama.
Though an engaging insightful tale, the latest Rei mystery spends a lot of paragraphs on sidebars such as how to use a kimono and tidbits on shoguns and samurai. For those readers who enjoy engaging asides this enhances the who-done-it. For those who prefer a concentrated amateur sleuth tale with a subplot on cross-cultural relationships, these cultural insights take away from the plot. Rei retains her spunk that the audience observed in THE FLOATING GIRL. Thus how much a reader relishes Sujata Massey's latest amateur sleuth novel depends on how much depth the audience desires for the subplots.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Bride's Kimono |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 50%
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- life in that culture
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- scholar
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Mid-Atlantic states
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Japan
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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