num_pages: 211
description: A 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soul-mate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy. 
language: English
title: The Samurai's Garden
titlecomplete: The Samurai's Garden
characters: Matsu, Stephen, Keiko, Kenzo, Sachi, Stephen's Father
genres: Asia, Historical Fiction, Historical, Japanese Literature, Novels, Asian Literature, Literature, Japan, China, Fiction
ratings_count: 25231
places: Tarumi
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin