“The Garden of Evening Mists” by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)
Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012

Synopsis

Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice “until the monsoon comes.” Then she can design a garden for herself.

As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

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Review

“The Garden of Evening Mists” is a richly layered and deeply atmospheric novel that lingers long after the final page. Readers enjoyed how the chapters move seamlessly between past and present, weaving the trauma and complexities of postwar Malaya into an intimate, emotionally charged narrative. The historical backdrop never overwhelms the story; instead, it deepens it, adding texture to the relationships, tensions, and quiet revelations that unfold throughout the book. The intermingling of cultures and languages – from Japanese influences to Afrikaans characters and history – gives the novel an added richness and authenticity.

What made the novel especially memorable for our readers was its lyrical prose and vivid sense of place. The descriptions of the countryside and gardens are so beautifully rendered that they feel almost transportive, while the shifting timelines create a haunting sense of memory and loss. The characters are original and remarkably well-rounded, even when much about them remains unsaid, and the intimacy between them carries both tenderness and danger. Elegant, poetic, and edged with suspense, the novel balances beauty with darkness, culminating in twists that feel both surprising and inevitable.

This fourth and final book of Season 26 scored 9.3 out of 10, the highest score of the season!

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Nicola’s Book Club reading list

Season 26 – Book Award Winners (Nov 2025 – May 2026)

“Against The Loveless World” by Susan Abulhawa (Palestine) – Winner of the Palestine Book Award 2020
“A Brief History of Seven Killings” by Marlon James (Jamaica) – Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2015
“Lost Children Archive” by Valeria Luiselli (Mexico) – Winner of the Dublin Literary Award 2021
“The Garden of Evening Mists” by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia) * – Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012

Extra book:
“The End of the Sahara” by Saïd Khatibi (Algeria) – Winner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2023

* The book club favourite
In italics, Nicola’s Coup de Cœur