This is the story of a family of post-WWII German immigrants in Canada, and their struggle to come to terms with life as Canadians, in spite of their difficult, war torn past. I thought this book was beautifully written and wonderfully sensitively wrought. The writer's very unique writing style sustains a tremendous level of poignancy and sensitivity throughout the story, but the author manages to achieve this without ever compromising the story at any point. It remains immensely readable and compelling to the end. In particular, the beautiful relationship drawn between the protagonist, Peter, and his sister, Ruby, is so beautifully drawn that I think it could quite easily go down in the annals of literature alongside such famous sibling relationships as the one in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. The book is a series of interconnected stories, beautifully held together with bridges of pure literature. The stories follow Peter, a second generation German, as he tries to make sense of his life in small town Canada. Inevitably, though, his history as a German, and all of the associated feelings of guilt enter into the fabric of his, and his families, lives and emotions and forces each of them to come to terms with the weight of history. The way in which this is achieved is so moving, so finely crafted, it brought tears to my eyes, and furthermore, it gives a very important and valuable perspective to another group of people who also suffered as a result of WWII. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, who enjoyed reading Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces or to anyone who enjoys fine literature.

This will likely be one of my more difficult reviews to write. Usually after finishing a novel I have no trouble knowing what to say about the book, not here. This is a novel of contemplation, it is both lyrical, poetic and at times slow. The story of a Japanese girl disfigured by the atomic bomb and the German/American scientist who helped create it, covers some complex philosophical issues. Is the use of a weapon of mass distruction justifiable if it brings about a perceived greater good? (in this case the end of WW2) The opening scene of Emiko and her brother witnessing the drop of the bomb is truly haunting and brilliantly written. While I had great sympathy for Emiko she was not a particularly empathetic character. I felt much more warmth for Anton the scientist and his long-suffering wife Sophie. My reason for not giving this novel 5 stars was echoed by another reviewer. I never felt like I got to know the characters well enough or understood the motivation for many of their actions. This especially applied to Sophie, who seemed both disillusioned and content with her lot in life.
There is a lot going on in this book, although it is a quick read it is by no means "light" reading. In conclusion, a line from Anton has been staying in my thoughts, he states he is less haunted by the dropping of the bomb, and more haunted by what the world would have become if the bomb had not been dropped. What indeed?

Many books - fiction as well as non-fiction - have been written around the events of August 6, 1945. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the world changed forever - and such an occurrence will be chronicled in many ways, for it touched and altered the lives of everyone on the planet. John Hersey's remarkable HIROSHIMA comes to mind, along with many other that have appeared since. Dennis Bock's novel THE ASH GARDEN is an astonishing, deeply moving look at the lives of three people - a German scientist who immigrated to America in order to work on the Manhattan Project; a young Austrian girl, sent away from the horrors to come by her parents, never to see them again; and a Japanese girl, just seven years old at the time, playing with her little brother on a riverbank, watching as a single plane approaches her city.

Bock's literary gifts are stunning. His descriptive abilities are deep and varied - I found myself reading passages over again when I realized that he had, obliquely rather than obviously, made a scene appear in my mind as clearly as if I were seeing it with my eyes. He applies this amazing talent to his characterizations as well - there are aspects of each character that are addressed directly, but many facets of their personalities and psyches are revealed more subtly, by conversations, thoughts and actions. I found the characters portrayed here - and this is, for me, the heart of all great writing - completely fleshed-out and whole. Each one has their strengths and weaknesses, with good and bad intentions vying within for dominance - and each one comes to know themselves as they come to know the ones with whom their lives are intertwined. Preconceptions exist and are seen to crumble - it's a fascinating process, and one that occurs within all of us as we live our lives and interact with others. To see it so subtly and completely reproduced on the printed page is a marvel.

Besides chronicling the events connected with the bombing of Hiroshima, and their consequences in the lives of these characters, the book deals very adeptly and thoroughly with the voyage of discovery that each one of them makes. Anton Böll, the émigré scientist, leaves his native Germany because he sees that the German atomic program is headed down a dead end - he knows that his talents and abilities will be put to much more fruitful use in America. He knows the horrible power that the weapon on which he is working will unleash - and he truly sees it as a necessary thing: a way to end the war. He also hopes, along with several of his fellows, that, once the power of this weapon is seen, there will never again be temptation to actually use it. He hopes against hope that the US government will choose to use it on a military target - but he also knows that they will most likely pick a civilian one. As the years pass after the war, he attends the annual rallies commemorating the event - not so much to ease his conscience as to make sure that the world knows the terrible power that the bomb carries.

Böll meets Sophie in a camp for refugees in Canada - he is immediately taken with her beauty and her spirit, and he marries her, getting her out of the camp. They move to New York City and begin their lives together - and then he is transferred to New Mexico to work on the Manhattan Project. Their hopes for their marriage carry him through this separation, and through the time after the war, when he is sent to Japan as a scientific observer of the bomb's results. Sophie has a more difficult time with this separation, and she deals with it - and with the pain of knowing she will never see her family in Europe again - by clinging to a new-found determination that she will live her life for herself, regardless of what those around her choose, or are compelled, to do.

It is while Anton is in Japan that he is moved beyond his own belief by the destruction he sees - destruction in the physical sense, to be sure, but mainly in the human sense. He sees the burned survivors - the adults as well as the children - and he comes to know an elderly doctor, and spends much of his spare time working with the old man in the hospitals, caring for those fighting to survive. Anton wrestles constantly - both consciously and subconsciously - with what he sees, trying to reconcile it with what he has believed about his work. It is a struggle that will remain with him.

Emiko and her little brother survive the blast, although they are badly burned. Just before the bomb detonated, she had painted a picture on the back of his white shirt, with mud, of the face of their grandfather. The flash and heat of the bomb burned this image into his back - and many other such 'tattoos' are recounted on other victims, the patterns of the clothing they were wearing marking them for life. Emiko's brother eventually dies, but she survives, and is chosen to be one of a select few girls to be taken to American to undergo newly developed surgical techniques to restore her badly burned and scarred face. She becomes a documentary filmmaker as an adult, and through her work and self-education about the events leading up to the destruction of her city, she comes to know about Anton Böll and his role in those events. She manages to meet him at a commemoration event in New York City, and arranges to interview him.

When the lives of these three people begin to intertwine, it is a classic case of 'the whole being greater than the sum of the parts' - there are dynamics that rise up and come into play that none of the three could have imagined. All three of them have believed that they have come to know fully the events of their lives - it is only after these versions meet and cross that they each realize that they still have things to learn and consider. Bock's research into the history of the bomb, his appreciation of the human personality and spirit, his respect of history, and the hopes he holds for humanity - both collectively and as individuals - are bound together here by his immense skills as a writer. THE ASH GARDEN is a book that everyone should read who wants to understand the power man has unleashed, along with its implications - and it does so without damning the bombs or the men who brought it to fruition, in an intelligent and moving way. This book is a modern masterpiece.

"The Ash Garden" is a poetic read that helped me cope with the aftermath of Sept 11th. It's a true literary work, one whose examination of the people affected by the Hiroshima bombings (scientists as well as citizens) is written more eloquently than most modern novels; you are moved by both the content and the author's fluid style. I found myself finally feeling more at peace with the horror that was 9/11; I hadn't expected that a novel would be my helpmate as I've struggled with what has occurred, but it's overall calming force was very welcome. I recommend the novel highly.