The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill #bookreview

Thank you Harper Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Turtle House in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Harper

Published: February 20, 2024

Summary:

Minnie and her granddaughter Lia are unforgettable protagonists, whose grit and grace will inspire you. Together, they find a way through in this gripping debut.”—Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City Moving between late 1990s small-town Texas to pre-World War II Japan and occupied Tokyo, an emotionally engaging literary debut about a grandmother and granddaughter who connect over a beloved lost place and the secrets they both carry. It’s spring 1999, and 25-year-old Lia Cope and her prickly 73-year-old grandmother, Mineko, are sharing a bedroom in Curtain, Texas, the ranching town where Lia grew up and Mineko began her life as a Japanese war bride.

Both women are at a turning point: Mineko, long widowed, moved in with her son and daughter-in-law after a suspicious fire destroyed the Cope family ranch house, while Lia, an architect with a promising career in Austin, has unexpectedly returned under circumstances she refuses to explain. Though Lia never felt especially close to her grandmother, the two grow close sharing late-night conversations. Mineko tells stories of her early life in Japan, of the war that changed everything, and of her two great a man named Akio Sato and an abandoned Japanese country estate they called the Turtle House, where their relationship took root.

As Mineko reveals more of her early life—tales of innocent swimming lessons that blossom into something more, a friendship nurtured across oceans, totems saved and hidden, the heartbreak of love lost too soon—Lia comes to understand the depth of her grandmother’s pain and sacrifice and sees her Texas family in a new light. She also recognizes that it’s she who needs to come clean—about the budding career she abandoned and the mysterious man who keeps calling. When Mineko’s adult children decide, against her wishes, to move her into an assisted living community, she and Lia devise a plan to bring a beloved lost place to life, one that they hope will offer the safety and sense of belonging they both need, no matter the cost. A story of intergenerational friendship, family, coming of age, identity, and love, The Turtle House illuminates the hidden lives we lead, the secrets we hold close, and what it truly means to find home again when it feels lost forever.

My thoughts:

As soon as I started hearing about this book, I knew I had to read it. It’s a debut novel and it was both heartbreaking and completely captivating. Plus, that cover…I just love it!

One of my reading goals for this year is to read more historical fiction and this book definitely fulfills that and more. I loved getting such an eye-opening peek into the life of a Japanese war bride during WWII. I’ve only read a few stories of war brides before this one, but not one where the author has had such a personal connection to the story they have written – this book is inspired by the life of the author’s own grandmother!

This book totally captivated me. Not only did I love being in Mineko’s world back in Japan during and after the war as she navigates a whole new world, but I also loved seeing the relationship she had with her granddaughter, Lia, grow into something really special in the present day (Texas, 1990s). This really made me think of how much I miss my own grandmother! I’ve always been a fan of intergenerational stories, but this one is truly something special.

This book really took a hold of me and didn’t let up until I finished the last page. It delves into so many deep topics that make it ideal for a book club – what gives us our identity, what makes a home, hope and resilience, and different relationships. I absolutely loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone I know.

This is such a beautifully written, engaging novel. I loved the dual timeline and was fully invested in both points of view, learning from the past and seeing how the present was still not without its challenges. This book is not only one I’ll be recommending to those who love historical fiction, but also those who enjoy a good family story.

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