Weekly Reader: The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber Logan; Haunting Beautiful Novel About Grief and Ghosts in Japan

 Weekly Reader: The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber Logan; Haunting Beautiful Novel About Grief and Ghosts in Japan

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Similar to Simone Doucet's book Wicked Bleu, Amber A. Logan's novel The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn is a haunting novel about a ghost with a dark tale, an emotional female protagonist, and has a beautiful setting which adds to the spooky and spiritual atmosphere. But Wicked Bleu concentrates more on the horror aspects of ghostly possession and a woman tortured by racism and misogyny in her life and can only achieve power in the afterlife. All of this is surrounded by the Gothic and eeriness of New Orleans.

While there are some creepy moments in The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn, the overall tone of the book is more beautiful than scary, with characters that are more haunted by their own emotions than by the ghosts around them. It is also set in Japan which provides a certain enchanted feel to the book because of the natural and supernatural aspects. It's more similar to a Studio Ghibli anime film than a Gothic horror tale.

Mari Lennox is a professional photographer who is grieving after the death of her mother. She is given an assignment to take pictures of Yanagi Inn, an inn in Japan near where Mari and her sister, Risa grew up while their father was an American businessman in Japan. They lived in Japan until their parent's divorce and their mother returned to the U.S. with her daughters.

Reconnecting herself to the country and language of her childhood, Mari becomes acquainted with Yanagi's staff including the gruff housekeeper, Ogura, the spirited teenage maid, Yuna, and the reserved elegant owner, Kishi. 

While taking pictures of the grounds, Mari sees an abandoned garden and has visions of how it looked when it was full and beautiful. It's like she knows that place, like she had been there before. She also feels a close connection to a crane who constantly seems to wait for her.

Also in her room, she hears a soft disembodied crying. The crying voice eventually takes the form of Suzu, a ghost girl. Mari befriends her but is consumed by curiosity. Who was Suzu?.How did she die? What is her connection to the garden? It seems that she recognizes Mari but how? Mari doesn't know her. Or does she?

There is something haunting and wistful about this book, starting with the setting. Logan clearly loves the Japanese setting. Mari feels a familiar connection that even though she isn't Japanese in her descent, recognizes it as a place that held many of her childhood memories. Her returning to Japan after suffering tremendous loss is similar to returning home, to a place that makes her feel safe and comfortable, and gives her a respite. To her it's a place to return to when she is hurting, wounded, and needs to heal.

The highlight of the book's setting is the garden outside Yanagi Inn. When Mari sees the overgrown hedges and the now disorganized path, she sees little patches of beauty and can almost see the garden as it once was. As she talks to Suzu, Mari promises that she will restore the garden to its beauty for as long as she remains at Yanagi. Restoring the garden gives Mari a sense of purpose and connects her to the spirituality of the nature around her. 

The plot of a garden reviving damaged and broken souls has been explored before, most prominently in Frances Hodgson Burnett's book The Secret Garden. In her Acknowledgements, Logan cites Burnett's classic as an inspiration, even contributing to the title of this book. It's easy to see why.

 The garden that Mari and Honda work on has an almost magical way of healing the various characters' pain, particularly Mari's.

The garden is a metaphor for Mari's grief. At first it is dead as she processes the death of her mother. She recalls flashbacks of her time with her mom and Risa and regrets many of the things that she did and said to them. 

As she restores the grounds and brings life to the landscape, she herself comes back to life. Her grief is still present but is able to be moved aside as she sees others that are hurting. The garden not only heals herself but others as well.

The Japanese setting not only connects the characters to the natural world but also to the spiritual as well. Of course, the garden has a meditative appeal with the geometric patterns, bridges, and plants that are meant to soothe the mind and body.

The Crane appears at the inn and around the garden as if to comfort or encourage Mari on her path. In Japanese legends, cranes are symbols of peace, luck, prosperity, and longevity. The Crane brings peace to Mari's mind and lets her know that she is taking the right path in her life.

Above all, the appearance of Suzu, the ghost girl, is a more abstract concept than is often found in many Western based books about the spirit world. She isn't meant to scare, though there are a few times where she gets possessive and angry. 

There are some questions of what she actually is the ghost of a human that died, some otherworldly spirit, or a manifestation of grief and guilt. It's less concrete than most portrayals of ghosts and the book is all the better for it.

Instead of terror, there is an aura of sadness about her like she's reaching out for something or someone. When her true nature is revealed, her appearance comes not from the usual place of a being that died, came back, scares the living, and needs to move on to the next world. Instead, she inhabits the internal feelings and emotions of the living characters around her. Suzu allows them to bring that grief and guilt forward and helps them move on from themselves.

The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn is a healing and meditative book that beautifully uses the setting of the natural and supernatural worlds to bring healing to the characters and maybe to the Reader.