Sweet Bean Paste

September 15, 2017

Making and selling dorayaki--a pancake-like pastry filled with the eponymous "sweet bean paste"--was not supposed to define Sentaro's life. His someday-dreams of becoming a writer got waylaid by bad decisions that resulted in a two-year prison sentence. Since getting out, he's been repaying his debts as the dorayaki shop's only employee--until 76-year-old Tokue answers the "Help Wanted" notice. Sentaro's initial protestations disappear after he tastes Tokue's homemade sweet bean paste, and she quickly becomes the shop's best asset. But Tokue has a secret past--which eventually causes her to quit, but not before customers are scared away by their own unfounded fears of her handicapped appearance. Tokue's got to keep teaching Sentaro important lessons about listening and learning before it's too late. Inspired by the 1996 repeal of Japanese legislation that for more than a century inhumanely confined patients with Hansen's Disease (leprosy)--and their families, Sukegawa--enabled by Watts's lucid translation--tells an endearing, thoughtful tale about relationships and the everyday meaning of life. VERDICT Readers in search of gently illuminating fare--e.g., Shion Miura's The Great Passage, Jeff Talarigo's The Pearl Diver--will appreciate this toothsome treat.--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
Sentaro Tsujii's life runs pretty much on autopilot. An ex-convict who served time for drug-related crime, he once wanted to be a writer. Instead, Sentaro spends his days making dorayaki, sweet pancakes filled with bean paste, in a small Japanese shop and drowning his evenings in drink. In debt to the shop's owner, who granted him a new life, Sentaro finds little joy in his everyday life. Only when an old woman, Tokue Yoshii, visits the shop and gives Sentaro a taste of her very special sweet bean paste, does life take a more purposeful turn. Tokue is aged, with weak, gnarled hands, and despite his better judgment, Sentaro employs her to make the filling that will turn his shop's fortunes around. Although Tokue's past is a reflection of a dark chapter of Japanese history, her wisdom, patience, and kindness shape this touching and occasionally wistful novel. Through Tokue's story, Sukegawa eloquently explores the seeds of biases and challenges us to truly listen to the natural world and the messages it artfully hides.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)