Rating: 
Summary: Best novel I have read in a long time
Review: This book was a gift and I had it on my bookshelf for years before I decided to pick it up and read a couple of pages. I was so entranced by the book, I savored every page, knowing that it would end too soon. She takes you into another world at another time with characters that you can't help but admire. What a beautifully written book, with an ending that leaves you at peace (even though I had tears in my eyes). I would recommend this book to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: calming story
Review: I found this book soothing and calming. Stephen, while at his Grandfathers home recovering, learned much philosphy about life from the caretaker, Matsu. The lives of the people involved in the story wind and turn, giving Stephen many thoughts that relate to his own life's problems. The philosophy can relate to many of our own personal lives. In my opinion this was a beautiful, well thought out book, and it has prompted me to order all 4 of the writer, Tsukiyama's books.
Rating:
Summary: A Well-Crafted Masterpiece!!
Review: Gail Tsukyama has written a masterpiece of modern literature. The tale the she has given us is told simply, but truly a complex novel with deep and fascinating characters that I truly cared about. There are certain parts of this book that are extremely powerful and they are also the most beautifully and well-crafted writing I have ever read in my life. What I won't do is reveal what this story is about. I don't like it when other reviewers reveal the underlying ideas of a book. This is truly a book to DISCOVER for yourself. I highly recommend this book to all human beings with any depth and/or emotion. Enjoy! -Taylor
Rating:
Summary: Hypnotic tale of self-discovery and recovery
Review: Gayle Tsukiyama's second novel is the kind of book that makes anyone with yearnings to write feel simultaneously inspired and discouraged: it's that close to being a perfect book. Deceptively simple in style and execution, Tsukiyama's lyrical prose weaves a spell that is almost impossible to cast off. Like a Japanese watercolor, The Samurai's Garden is as much about the spaces inbetween its characters as the events which motivate them. Set against the back-drop of impending war, a young man is sent from China to recover from TB at his family's summer home in Japan. There he learns of his father's extramarital affair, and is born as an artist with the gruff but ineffably wise influence of his father's servant (the "samurai" of the title), whose own life holds some surprising revelations. Moving, wise, and infused with subtle beauty, this is a book not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the novel, but...
Review: Gail Tsukiyama's "Women of the Silk" and its sequel, "The Language of Threads" are my favorite novels. I think this novel is excellent too but it leaves something to be desired. It's because I'm Japanese.
The protagonist, Stephen (he's Chinese but was given a Christian name by his parents) came from Hong Kong to Japan to recuperate from tuberculosis. There he met Matsu, his family's servant and skillful gardener, and Sachi, a leper who lived in a small community deep in the mountain. In spite of the ongoing war between China and Japan, they took each other to their hearts. The story about their spirits is very touching.
But Tsukiyama's description of Japanese seasons and culture loses some reality (in Honshu, the mainland of Japan, we can't swim in Autumn; the autumn equinox is not the first day of autumn here; in a funeral women in kimono don't wear veil; etc.). Once I decide it's a portrait of imaginary Japan, it's excellent for me like her other novels.
P.S. Japanese lepers finally redeemed their honor by winning their suit against Japanese government last month, after several decades of struggle.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, simple story
Review: This was a simple, lovely story. The author did a wonderful job of creating the peace of the garden for the reader. I didn't want this story to end!
Rating:
Summary: stunning with grace. Mesmerising.
Review: A tale of honesty and beauty. The story of Matsu, Tomoko, Sachi and Kenzo is told in the eyes of Stephen, a young painter recovering from tuberculosis in his grandfather's summer house, who in turn finds his own story of 'forbidden love' being unfolded behind the threads and roots of the past belonging his new found friends. Sushi, Flowers, Tea, Lepers, Hong Kong, The Nanjing Massacre, and a Samurai is all remembered in His Garden: Stephen's Journal. Tsukiyama at her ultimate best.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely book
Review: This is a special book. Quiet, serene, eloquent. For those who fail to see why someone would cultivate a Zen Garden, you will not get it.
Rating:
Summary: So Beautiful!
Review: This is such a wonderful book!! I really did not want to finsih it. I learned so much more about the meaning of peace and serenity from Matsu and Sachi. Acceptance and the ability to pull on inner strength that most of us don't realize we possess.
Rating: 
Summary: Juvenile Prose
Review: I loathed this book! If I read "I felt" once, I read it 1000 times. Or the word "Anxious". "I felt anxious" seems to be this author's only words for any emotion. Perhaps if this book were marketed for 10-year-olds, it might be better served. Worst writing I've read in a decade. And no real explanation as to why Stephen is so drawn to Sachi, as if she were 20 instead of in her late 50's. It is not as if he doesn't love his own mother. Just no mature writing anywhere.
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