Blog Tour Book Review : Fukushima Dreams by Zelda Rhiando

Fukushima Dreams is a enthralling tale of loss,grief,redemption,betrayal,cultural differences,survival,mental illness,parenthood and relashionships with an added dash of mystery. The story is set in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami that caused so much death and devastation in Japan.

It's the story of Harry and Sachiko who lived in a small village on the north-east coast of Japan. The couple are struggling after the birth of their son Tashi. Their marriage was strained even before their son was born but the constant screaming is putting even more pressure on their already crumbling relashionship. Sachiko is too ashamed to admit that she is suffering from post natal depression. In Japanese culture mental health issues are not openly discussed. Harry who is an Englishman spent seems to care and is spending more and more time at work or out running,planning his escape.

He gets his opportunity in the aftermath of the tsunami,abandoning his family and fleeing into the mountains where he hides away in a old hut,haunted by his grief and hovering on the edge of sanity.

Meanwhile after waking up and finding her husband and son are both missing, Sachiko begins a desperate search for her family until she is forced to leave the area because of the nuclear fallout from the Fukushima power plant. She flees to Tokyo and begins to rebuild her life.

Will they find each other and confront the question of their missing son?

• The story is told in chapters that alternate between Sachiko (in the third person) and Harry (in the first person) Both characters had realistic flaws and I kept changing my mind about wether they were likeable or not with each passing chapter. Until I reached the end and I was left feeling a lot of unexpected sympathy for one of them. I liked how the author gave both characters an added air of mystery by revealing that they were both estranged from their respective families but she didn't reveal the reasons why. My favourite chapters were the ones about Harry's isolated existence in the hut in the mountains. His gradual mental deterioration as the hunger, isolation and the visits by his son's "spirit" began to wear him down. How he eventually realised that maybe his life with Sachiko and his baby son wasn't as bad as he had thought and that he had been wrong to run off and leave them. To be honest, I didn't enjoy Sachiko's parts of the story once she got to Tokyo,I wasn't interested in reading about her wandering the streets,looking for a job or about her relashionship with the owner of the book store Hiromichi. I personally would have preferred it if she had found out where Harry had gone and followed him into the mountains where they could have had a confrontation amongst the trees and the spiders.But that's just my opinion,I'm sure other readers will love those parts of the story. That's one of the joys of reading,isnt It?we all have different opinions about the books that we read.

The descriptions of the devastation,fear and confusion caused by the tsunami were realistic,chilling and breath taking. As were the survivors day to day struggles to survive without the every day amenities that we all take for granted. Like Sachiko said, it was like they had gone back to the old times.

Fukushima Dreams is a beautifully written,haunting,thought-provoking story that has a jaw dropping ending. Although I enjoyed some parts more than others, I would happily recommend this book to other readers and I would definitely read more books by this author in the future.

                                                          ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zelda Rhiando was born in Dublin and read English Literature at Cambridge. She lives in South London with her husband, two daughters and four cats, and is one of the founders of the Brixton BookJam. She is the author of two novels, Caposcripti and Fukushima Dreams.

Website: http://www.badzelda.com
Twitter : @badzelda


PUBLICATION DATE : 19th December 2017

PUBLISHER : Unbound Digital

GENRE : psychological

PURCHASE LINK....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fukushima-Dreams-Zelda-Rhiando-ebook/dp/B079YWX9LK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8


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