After the
loss of her mother years before, Yuki finally decides to visit the famous British
sights mentioned in all the Bronte novels. Her mother has been there, too, and
left her pictures of which Yuki tries to find the origins to feel closer to her.
Yet, already the beginning of trip announces masses of problems when her
luggage goes missing and the rest of her group, a bunch of elderly ladies with
whom she scarcely has something in common, are a very poor company. But after
caking friends with a local girl, the trip promises to fill some of her
expectations.
I had
expected a book with close links to the famous novels, but soon I had to find
out that the protagonist hardly knows anything about the famous sisters.
Nevertheless, I was not disappointed at all because I read a book with an
underlying melancholy which I really enjoyed. Yuki’s expatriation in Great Britain
where she hardly understands something and where the feeling of loss becomes
more and more pestering really gets under your skin. There are funny episodes,
a lot of them actually, but it is a kind of fun that makes you laugh and stop
immediately because it is at the cost of the poor young women whom you come to
like immediately. She is a bit strange, but it’s a lovely strangeness which
makes her adorable at once.
Mick Jackson’s
style of writing convinced me at once, he really manages to combine comical
aspects with melancholical ones which creates a very unique feeling. Apart from
this the story, the search for traces of the beloved mother, was convincingly
constructed and interesting to read. What I liked especially were the precise
observation when it came to cultural differences or manners, the clash of the
British and Japanese was to me an absolute plus while reading.
