I really liked this book. There was a lot going on for a 300+ page book however. It would have been nice to delve into all of the key relationships more: Alma & Ichimei; Alma & Nathaniel; Alma & Irina; Irina & Seth. As far as that goes, I would have liked more information about the personal lives of Ichimei, Nathaniel, Irina and Seth! They each had an interesting history and we barely get a hint of what each of their experiences were like.
We know that Ichimei spent time in the "relocation camp" Topaz, and that his family ended up in Arizona at the end of the war, but we find out nothing about his marriage and kids. Obviously, Nathaniel was gay - and a gay man in San Francisco at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic! Did Alma suspect anything? At one point she surmised that he must have been discretely sleeping with other women, since he wasn't sleeping with her, but she didn't seem all that surprised when he fell ill with the "gay man's disease". I would have loved to know more about Nathaniel's life - although it explains why he so willingly married Alma. Marrying your first cousin is definitely odd though....
Obviously Irina had a horrible life. It wasn't surprising why she kept disengaging from Seth. What her mother did to her - or at least allowed to happen (and don't tell me she didn't know anything!) - was disgusting. How wonderful for Irina that she met Alma - and through Alma, Seth. And speaking of Seth. Other than falling in love with Irina - and being a huge support to Alma - we really don't know anything about his upbringing at all.
So, yes, lots of interesting people and several interesting relationships. I can't say that my favorite relationship was Alma & Ichimei though. Alma's materialism and self-centeredness really bothered me. I completely understand why she felt she couldn't marry Ichimei at that time. A mixed-race marriage, with mixed-race children between two people that lived on completely different social levels. That would have been incredibly difficult for even the bravest of women at that time. Alma loved her creature comforts too much. To me, that makes their love story flawed. I loved Ichimei though. And I am glad that they found each other again. I do believe that Ichimei is the only man that Alma ever truly loved romantically.
I suspected that Ichimei had already died, so it didn't surprise me when we find out he had died before Alma moved to Lark House. Irina was caught up in the love story of Alma & Ichimei, so she was waiting for him to come to Alma in the hospital at the end, and he did. The mind can be very powerful. So whether he was a figment of Irina's imagination, or a "ghost" coming to lead the love of his life "home", I thought it was a nice ending.
Wendy's Rating: ****
