Book Review: The Wedding Kimono

Title: The Wedding Kimono

Author:  Camy Tang

Date: 2021

Publisher: Camy Tang

ISBN: 978-1-942225-27-0

Quote: "You would be such a handsome boy."..."But I'm a girl, Mrs. Nanase."

Lila is a late bloomer. Early in young adulthood she looked like a child and, since she's tall and thin, some even saw her as a boy child. She's resigned herself to this and not noticed that, in her twenties, she's finally growing up and becoming attractive to men.

Lila owes her job (as a massage therapist) to a family connection with the owner of the spa, but her immediate supervisor, Fred, is a divorced grouch who doesn't seem to like women. Except Lila. He's always seemed to have a soft spot for Lila, and she's become quite attached to him.

The story starts when Lila inherits a fantastically embroidered wedding kimono, handmade by her great-grandmother. She thinks part of the design may be Japanese calligraphy characters, and looks for a Japanese scholar who can read them, if they are indeed words. Along the way, someone shares photos of the kimono on the Internet, and Lila is harassed by art collectors who are sure the kimono is the work of a famous artist. Lila finally convinces them that her great-grandmother probably designed the kimono after studying photos of the artist's work in magazines. 

No points for guessing...Although Lila is at least a foot taller than the great-grandmother was, the special wedding kimono was cut extra-long, and Lila will wear it at her wedding. That's not even the part that will make the kimono seem like almost a prophetic blessing from a short Japanese artisan to her tall American great-granddaughter. It's the Bible quote. Lila's great-grandmother was a Christian. So is Lila. So is Fred. Nobody converts to Christianity in this book, but people do reflect on Bible texts.

Any woman who grew up slowly can probably relate to Lila, but beyond that, this short novel is the work of a skilled and talented writer. If you want to read more sweet romantic fiction about the other people at the spa, a series of full-length novels is due to start coming out in print in 2024. If you buy fiction, you may want to pre-order these novels.