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THE WORLD OF ASH

Devoted to the novel by Holly Thompson
Published by Stone Bridge Press
Berkeley, California
sbp@stonebridge.com
www.stonebridge.com

"A haunting tale of love and loss, of destruction and resilience . . . a stirring reminder that our most moving stories are often written in the ash of disaster."--LINDA WATANABE McFERRIN

"ASH is a standout in the growing body of literature written by non-Japanese and set in Japan. Richly and precisely observed, it resonates with the kind of phrases you want to linger over."--ELIZABETH FLOYD, THE DAILY YOMIURI

What is Ash about?

Holly Thompson's novel Ash takes place in Japan and tells the story of Caitlin Ober, a young American woman. Caitlin lived in Kyoto for a short time as a young girl, and now she has returned to Japan. She is teaching English in Kyushu and lives in the remote city of Kagoshima, opposite the increasingly active volcano Sakurajima. Beneath ominous clouds of ash, Caitlin travels her school rounds with waning enthusiasm. After hours she swims intently, hangs with a group of windsurfers, and attempts to keep her boyfriend, Hiroshi, at bay. She concocts lies and self-deceptions to prevent a tragic childhood incident in Kyoto from intruding on her present. But, like the ash that veils the city, guilt obscures her path.

Then, in an ash-coated garden, Caitlin encounters a half-Japanese teenager, Naomi, wrangling with her double identity. Naomi seems to require Caitlin’s rescue, and by degrees the two swap morsels of self-truths. Ultimately they travel to Kyoto during the summer festival of O-Bon, when the spirits of the dead revisit the living. There, amid bonfires, temple rites, and ghostly memories, Caitlin bravely begins to embrace her future.

About the author, Holly Thompson

Holly Thompson, the author of Ash, grew up in New England and graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in biology. She'd not given Japan a passing glance until she approached her husband-to-be in a Maine island pub, intrigued by his footwear (geta) from his time spent in Japan. After teaching science for two years, she made her first move to Japan in 1983 and stayed three years--teaching English, writing, and beginning her exploration of the less traveled corners of the Japanese archipelago. She later received her Masters degree from New York University's Creative Writing Program and after settling in the New York area for a number of years, uprooted and moved back to Japan with her husband and their two children. Her articles on such Japanese cultural issues as O-Bon festival rituals, tatami manufacturing, midwifery, and wedding customs, as well as on historic travel destinations, have appeared in magazines and newspapers in the United States and Japan, and her short stories have been published in The Broken Bridge anthology, Wingspan and various literary magazines. Her fiction tends to explore differences of sensibility, orientation and expression between Japanese and Americans and the impact of cross-cultural stress on personal lives. Characters include foreigners in Japan struggling to navigate a society lacking familiar referents, Japanese in the United States assimilating one moment and bowing to Japanese tradition the next, and children of intercultural marriages coping with often opposing identities. She currently teaches at Yokohama City University and lives and writes in Kamakura.

To purchase Ash

Contact your local book store or any of the major online booksellers like Amazon, bn.com, or booksense.com.

Publication details

5.25 x 8.25", paperback, 292 pages, $16.95

Buy this book from:

Amazon.com	A local independent bookseller	Cody's Books

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