SHIBASAKI Tomoka : Spring garden - book review

Divorced and cut off from his family, Taro lives alone in one of the few occupied apartments in his block, a block that is to be torn down as soon as the remaining tenants leave. Since the death of his father, Taro keeps to himself, but is soon drawn into an unusual relationship with the woman upstairs, Nishi, as she passes on the strange tale of the sky-blue house next door.
First discovered by Nishi in the little-known photo-book 'Spring Garden', the sky-blue house soon becomes a focus for both Nishi and Taro : of what is lost, of what has been destroyed, and of what hope may yet lie in the future for both of them, if only they can seize it.

Well, well, well...

I was putting back novels on the library shelves, refiling those from R to Z (which you probably don't care about, but it's part of my job), when I got this pretty book in my  hand : Japanese literature ? Check. Lovely cover ? Check. Garden, in spring ? Check. Mention of a lovely house ? Check. All things I love, I borrowed it.

However... Taro got divorced ? Too bad, but who cares ? His building will soon be demolished and all tenants are leaving ? Well, that happens. One of his neighbours, very nosy, is interested in coming into his appartment to have a better look at that house downstairs ? She looks like a stalker, doesn't she ? Besides, she's a heavy drinker ! But where is the interest ? The writing style is average. The characters are not really interesting. What's the point in that story ? I have no idea. Am I tempted to pick another book by that author ? Nope. There was a house in the neighborhood, several people rented it and lived in it, and that's all. People come, people go.

I finished it, that's all I can say, but I wasn't interested and I will probably have forgotten about it by tomorrow morning.