Blackberries in the Dream House (Paperback)

~ Diane Frank (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Yukiko is a beautiful geisha living in Kyoto in the middle of the nineteenth century. Elegant and refined, she is also passionate and does not heed the cautionary words of Okasan, the head of her house, who warns her not to fall in love. She gives her heart to Eitaro, a client who pledges his love to her but eventually gives in to pressure from his family to marry a "respectable" girl. Hurt, Yukiko responds to the peaceful teachings of a Buddhist monk named Kenji. Her feelings for him grow, and when he asks her to show him her world, she agrees, even though it is forbidden. She bathes him when he comes to her at night, and their love inspires her art and poetry. When his marriage quickly sours, Eitaro returns to her, but Yukiko finds her heart belongs only to Kenji. With poetic language that gracefully reveals the vibrant, lush world of Kyoto to the reader, Frank gracefully tells the story of two lovers eternally bound by fate and time. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

"What would happen to us if we were to undertake the discipline of turning our life entirely and self-consciously into a poem? Through Yukiko, who becomes both a contemplative Buddhist and a geisha skilled in the refinements of sensuous pleasure, Diane Frank allows us to live within the soul of a young woman who has undertaken to create a life imagined and expressed as a poem, in every moment, waking and sleeping, making love or meditating. With its power of language, Blackberries in the Dream House will seduce many readers into considering whether a prosaic life is the only choice we have." Pierre DeLattre Author of Walking on Air and Tales of a Dalai Lama "Diane Frank's exquisite sensibility manifests throughout in Blackberries in the Dream House; it is both erotic and metaphysical. In fact, her great strength is that for her there's no division between the two. The result is this fine lyrical novel." Stephen Dunn Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sunstar Publishing Ltd. (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887472681
• ISBN-13: 978-1887472685
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #692,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel to Savor, September 13, 2003

By	Donna Colby (Fairfield, IA United States) - See all my reviews

I savored each page of this novel, reading many sentences over and over again. The experience was delicious, transporting, expansive, and playful. Diane Frank's sentences are not merely a way to find out what happens next or even a display of her mastery of language (although they do both of these things in a compelling way), but the sentences themselves are like magic spells. Their poetic imagery worked on me like a snake charmer's music. They took me in new directions, regardless of my own nature or intentions. Yukiko, the geisha, is almost angelic in her subtlety, yet, at the same time, strikingly down-to-earth and honest. For me, she began as a stranger and, in the end, became an unexpected mentor, teasing me to live on the lyrical plane she inhabits. Diane Frank put her soul into this story and, in the process of writing it, honed each sentence into fine art.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blackberries in the Dream House is Superb and Enthralling, July 18, 2006

By	Patrick D. Tobin "CEO" (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There simply is no way to describe what I'm experiencing as you pull me through the mind, heart and soul of this Geisha.....and your writing brings tears to my eyes, as I wonder, "Could I ever find the path of letters to create even one sentence with that kind of power?" I'm not sure why this work isn't on the NY Best Seller List. Every person I have ever met would find meaning in
this work. No wonder you wanted me to read this, above all other things. It is a truly a pinnacle ....a masterpiece A Mona Lisa and a Wall of China, all rolled together, and just as mysterious and meaningul, long after the journey to experience great works has passed....the smoke of the wonder reignites.
Just amazing work.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blackberries in the Dream House, August 18, 2003

By	Robin Lim (Bali, Indonesia) - See all my reviews

Blackberries in the Dream House
Some books take a day or two to read, and then haunt you forever. Blackberries in the Dream House by Diane Frank is like that. I read it while traveling, thinking to pick up a light book. The poetry of each well crafted line compelled me to turn page after page, the erotic subtext kept me prisoner to the last page.
Chapter by chapter the lives of once-upon-a-time lovers in Japan, unfold like a silk kimono woven in dream time, iridescent, beautiful, fragrant. Frank populates her pages with dragonflies, thunder storms, dancers, sumi artists, broken wings of angels which turn into shards of glass and pierce lovely feet. I am so happy to have found this book.