{"product_id":"the-teahouse-fire-9781594482731","title":"The Teahouse Fire","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Like attending seasons of elegant tea parties--each one resplendent with character and drama. Delicious.\"--Maxine Hong Kingston\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe story of two women whose lives intersect in late-nineteenth-century Japan, \u003ci\u003eThe Teahouse Fire \u003c\/i\u003eis also a portrait of one of the most fascinating places and times in all of history--Japan as it opens its doors to the West. It was a period when wearing a different color kimono could make a political statement, when women stopped blackening their teeth to profess an allegiance to Western ideas, and when Japan's most mysterious rite--the tea ceremony--became not just a sacramental meal, but a ritual battlefield. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe see it all through the eyes of Aurelia, an American orphan adopted by the Shin family, proprietors of a tea ceremony school, after their daughter, Yukako, finds her hiding on their grounds. Aurelia becomes Yukako's closest companion, and they, the Shin family, and all of Japan face a time of great challenges and uncertainty. Told in an enchanting and unforgettable voice, \u003ci\u003eThe Teahouse Fire\u003c\/i\u003e is a lively, provocative, and lushly detailed historical novel of epic scope and compulsive readability.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEllis Avery's first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Teahouse Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, set in the tea ceremony world of nineteenth-century Japan, has been translated into five languages and has won three awards, including the American Library Association Stonewall Award. Avery is also the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Smoke Week\u003c\/i\u003e, an award-winning 9\/11 memoir. She teaches fiction writing at Columbia University and lives in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Riverhead Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50726662701330,"sku":"9781594482731","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_11db8941-b6d3-4e5f-acbc-91a60f461973.jpg?v=1734878595","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-teahouse-fire-9781594482731","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}