This book gives an insight into life in Asia after the WW11
The characters are well developed and the pacing is good. This is a mix of thriller and historical fiction
I did feel the ending was a bit rushed.

This sounded an interesting story from the blurb. But I didn’t feel it really delivered, sadly. It features two stories - Elly and her journalist husband trying to adopt, and Kamiya the war orphan, both linked via an Esperanto-speaking poet called Vida Vidanto. But the mystery and betrayal never really surfaced for me - the book drifted along steadily enough, before an abrupt ending. I hit 92% and was waiting for some kind of confrontation regarding the man in the photo… then nothing. It just stopped and started doing blurbs for other books.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review. Apologies for the long delay in providing this.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I apprecitate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this a really interesting read and the characters are quite engaging. it kept me reading until the end. I highly recommend.

The Lantern Boats is a historical mystery set in post-war Japan. I thought the setting was well-developed and explored the hardships of Japan after the war. The mystery was also very compelling. The main protagonist is very likable. However, the story was very slow moving. Still, I recommend for those who are interested in novels set in an exotic setting!

The Lantern Boats

I’ll be very honest and tell everyone that I was drawn to this book first of all by its stunning cover. In Tokyo, 1951, Elly Ruskin is trapped between worlds. Half-Japanese, half-Scottish, she is deported from Australia to Japan after the war, but Tokyo is a city Elly barely knows. In a whirlwind romance, she falls in love with a Scottish journalist and they marry.

Kamiya Jun is a teenage war orphan from the lost Japanese colony of Karafuto. He is smuggled to the mainland on a fishing boat. Captured by the police, he is handed over to the occupation forces, and finds himself unwillingly recruited to work in an underground intelligence unit run by a maverick American officer.Now Elly thinks her husband is having an affair, and her suspicions will lead her down a treacherous path that will put everyone in danger. Jun might be the only person who can help her.
This is an absolutely beguiling story of intrigue and the human spirit set against the backdrop of Japan in transition.

I had never come across Tessa Morris-Suzuki before, but this is a type of book I usually love. I’ve read a lot about WW2 lately, for my own writing and I love the combination of historical fiction viewed through the life of a character or set in a place or part of the war I know little about. Because my reading focus has been the Warsaw ghetto and Siberian internment camps I have never read about the war from Japan part in the war. The synopsis of ‘The Lantern Boat’ grabbed me and I was soon installed on the sofa becoming engrossed in this unusual story about WW2.
It grabbed me at the first page and I quickly became lost in the world the author created, often losing an hour when I’d only sat down for a quick cuppa. Firstly, Japan really was beautiful, seductive and so well described I could have been there. I’ve always wanted to go for cherry blossom time and this fuelled my travel dreams. Japan was made beautiful and magical for me. The author had a way of bringing the country to life, showing how completely different Japanese life is to ours, but also giving me characters that I connected with.

The author made me feel empathy for Elly who finds herself trapped between two worlds after WW2, being half-Japanese and half-Scottish, she is deported back to Japan from where she’d settled in Australia. In Tokyo, a city Elly barely knows, she finds herself once again feeling like she doesn’t belong and I think we really get the Lost in Translation feel of dislocation from this foreign place. Then she is swept off her feet by a Scottish journalist and when they marry, Elly hopes that she will finally have the life she has always dreamed about. The author combines the couple’s personal issues with a mystery to solve and a complex political situation to manage. I really felt for the couple’s longing to start a family and the rifts this can cause in a relationship. They decide to adopt a child but Elly starts to have concerns about Fergus’s ability to be faithful. She suspects Fergus is having an affair with is a mysterious woman called Vida, a poet with a political past. Meanwhile there is a young man, Kamiya Jun, recruited by the military to follow Vida and note all her actions, reporting all to his spy masters.

The book’s other mystery begins with a body floating along the river alongside the picturesque lantern boats, released to honour the recent war dead. We are then taken back 5 months to see young Kamiya Jun working on a smuggling boat. We see how war has turned him into an orphan and he doesn’t have the knowledge or strength to resist what the occupying forces want of him. We realise that he’s actually employed by an underground intelligence unit run by an American officer who is a maverick, and now he and Elly, are unwittingly caught up in a dangerous game that could end up costing them everything – including their lives. Could they manage to defeat their enemies and emerge unscathed from their mission? I had no prior knowledge of the political situation in Japan after the war, but I imagined there must be some sort of clean up operation, especially in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The author shows a Japan occupied by Americans who were fearful about the Japanese people’s political stance during the war. They also feared a spread of postwar communism due to the proximity of China and Korea. The novel explores that pull between passion and duty. Themes of family and betrayal resonate through the pages. Elly, Fergus, Jun and Vida are all likeable characters, but there is tension and that’s where passion and duty collide; the domestic life of Elly and Fergus and their longing for a child is heartbreaking but often kept as personal. Vida and Jun's are playing on a much bigger activities could have major public repercussions.

It took me a little while to get into this book but by halfway I felt that I cared about the characters. Would Elly get the child she has been hoping for? Has Fergus been having an affair with Vida? Whose is the body with the lantern boats? Will Jun discover something vital about Vida? The Lantern Boats is a beautiful crafted historical novel that works on may different levels. It is a gripping thriller with just enough intrigue and suspense to keep you hooked, but it is also a heartfelt and affecting emotional drama that fully immerses the reader in 1950s Japan.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Lantern Boats by Tessa Morris-Suzuki in exchange for an honest review. I don't normally read historical fiction, as is evidenced by my other reviews, but in college I fell in love with Japan and it's history. This novel takes a woman who is half Japanese and living in another country and repatriates her to Japan after the war. How many people in history and even now are sent to a country they have never known simply for their genetics? To read about her struggle and the cultural differences was fascinating. I really enjoyed this book.

What makes this book so magical is the elements of Japan! This book takes you on an adventure of mystery and intrigue through a land of wonder which I absolutely adored. This book was amazing to read!

I love the characters in this book. They are well developed and loveable. But, it was a bit slow, and I found myself wanting to leave it aside for most of the time. Still, reading about post-war Japan was interesting.

this was a enjoyable mystery, I loved the use of Japan and using this as a setting of the mystery. It was a really well done book.

This story follows Elly who is living in Tokyo Japan following the end of WWII. She’s having a hard time settling in and to add insult to injury she’s pretty sure her husband is cheating on her with a woman named Vida. When Vida is found dead, a web of suspicion begins to be woven and secrets may come to light.

This was a historical fiction with a little mystery and thriller vibes thrown in the mix. The plot line was well paced and believable.

Thank you to NetGalley + Joffee Books for the ARC.

Beautiful, poetic and a fantastic read! I can't believe I was apprehensive about picking this one up.

I read it in 2 days, it was so engrossing!

Recommended to all.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been lured to this book on Netgalley by the gorgeous cover and the historical setting: Tokyo 1951. I had understood that it was a murder mystery (someone indeed dies), but it was a misunderstanding (all my fault): it’s mostly a thriller, albeit a slow one. And I’m not saying this to discourage you from reading it: it was quite a good read and an engrossing story, held together by good characters and a solid historical background.

In this novel two points of view in this novel alternate but barely intersect in the same streets of post-war, US-occupied Tokyo. One is Kamiya Jun, a young man, orphaned from a fishing community not far from the Soviet empire, a survivor from the war and other hardships, a man who has worked for many bad guys and can only count on his own resources. Kamiya is given a dangerous mission, then another, and then he’s given a rather simple task: follow a woman and report on her to his masters.

The second point of view comes from Elly, a Scottish Japanese woman who is married to a British journalist. Elly is a nice housewife who wished for a baby but couldn’t get pregnant. Her husband spends a lot of time out, and Elly begins to suspect that he has more than a professional interest for the woman he’s interviewed several times, a Japanese poet who has chosen an Esperanto name for herself, Vida Vidanto, and who has spent the war in China with Communists.

The book is original because there are none of the expected Japanese clichés. The author doesn’t shy away from the complex situation of histories and her characters are all rather unusual. Elly has a mixed culture and hardly fits into the traditional Japanese society or among the expat crowd. Kamiya also is a loner and an outsider. At some point we get to meet a Japanese-American soldier, but rather than going all patriotic, he confesses that his family was sent to one of those infamous US internment camps during the war. Kamiya seeks refuge in a Korean boarding house in a slum, literally with the outcasts of Japanese society. And Vida Vidanto herself, who comes from a privileged Japanese family, has turned her back away from them and chosen a life with Communists and other marginalized communities.

The book is fascinating as it brings to life a rather murky period of Japanese history and shows many little-known facts about the American occupation and the Cold War. Learning from the postface that some parts of the story are based on historical facts really gave me even more appreciation for this book.

The Lantern Boats is a great blend of historical fiction and mystery. The story is told through Elly and Jun in alternating chapters as their paths cross and the mystery unfolds.
It is a slow paced mystery, which it needs to be due to the amount of backstory, that slowly builds into its creepy finale. The novel is edgy, creepy and tense.
The setting of 1950’s Japan is fascinating. I loved learning more about the culture and time period there. Occupied Post war Japan and the things happening there, along with the suspicion of anything communist, add to the tenseness of the book.
All the characters are well developed and fit perfectly with the story.
While I enjoyed reading it, I do feel the ending was just a bit too abrupt for me and has left me with questions as some things feel quite unresolved.

I wasn't sure this was my type of book but I said what the heck I'll give it a go and I'm absolutely happy I did. It was beautiful and poetic at times. The writing was superb and delightful.

The Lantern Boats by Tessa Morris-Suzuki is a solid 3.5 star read, but I will round up to 4 stars because the writing was excellent.

I was captivated by the setting of Japan in 1951 while it was still occupied by American forces. I don't think I have read another book with that setting, so I did learn some history.

The characters were developed pretty thoroughly, so that was a plus. My biggest disappointment was the resolution. At about three-quarters of the way into the book, the story really fizzled so that the ending was anti-climactic.

I will recommend this to readers who enjoy historical fiction set in Japan. Thanks to Joffe Books and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Lantern Boats by Tessa Morris - Suzuki is a historical fiction book. I always love a good historical read so, after checking the cover...which is beautiful and the blurb I went for it.
Set in 1951, Japan and told from two points of view. The first being Elly Ruskin a Japanese - Scottish young woman who was repatriated to Japan from Australia after the Second World War. She has suspicions that Fergus, her husband is having an affair with Vido Vidanto, a Japanese poet. The second being Kamiya Yun, a young boy who is recruited to spy on Vido's life by the occupying American forces.
Tessa Morris - Suzuki has written 'The Lantern Boats' so well I felt like I could actually be there, in Japan. Her writing makes Japan feel so real and the descriptions she writes are so vivid. This is the second book I have read that has anything about Japan and the first was totally different to this. I am glad I decided to join this tour, it means I have found another great author.
A story that is beautifully written and held my attention for longer than I expected when I first picked up the book. Definitely a page turner as they say.
Thanks to Jill Burkinshaw for asking me to take part in this tour and Joffe Books and netgalley for the copy of the book.

I really loved reading this book, it was well written and exciting

It's a story that has remained with me since, and will definitely be looking for further books by this author in the future

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for ARC

Life in postwar, occupied Tokyo is profoundly complicated and The Lantern Boats masterfully transports readers back to the dark depths of this troubled time. Elly, half Japanese, and her Scot journalist husband are trying to adopt a baby. Jun, a young illegal immigrant who lost his entire family in the war, struggles to survive. And Vida, an enigmatic, impassioned Japanese poet, returns to Tokyo after living in war-ravaged China. When their paths collide, their lives are forever and inextricably changed.

It’s a short, beautifully written novel, with a slow burn and a hopeful ending.