The Garden of Evening Mists
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| Author | Tan Twan Eng |
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| Country | Malaysia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Myrmidon Books |
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Publication date
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January 2012 |
| Pages | 448 pages |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Gift of Rain (2007) |
The Garden of Evening Mists, published in January 2012, is the second novel by Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng. (The first was The Gift of Rain (2007).) The protagonist of The Garden is the judge Teoh Yun Ling, who was a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II and later served as an apprentice to a Japanese gardener. As the story begins, she is trying to make sense of her life and experiences. The novel takes place during three different time periods: the late 1980s, when the main character writes down her story; the early 1950s, when the main action takes place; and World War II, which provides the backdrop for the story. Critical reception for the book was generally favourable. It was awarded the Man Asian Literary Prize (2012) and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
Newly retired Supreme Court Judge Teoh Yun Ling returns to the Cameron Highlands of Malaya, where she had spent a few months several years earlier. Oncoming aphasia is forcing her to deal with unsettled business from her youth while she is still able to remember. She starts writing her memoir and agrees to meet with Japanese professor Yoshikawa Tatsuji. Tatsuji is interested in the life and works of artist Nakamura Aritomo, who used to be the Japanese Emperor's gardener but moved to this area to build his own garden.
During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Yun Ling was in a Japanese civilian internment camp with her sister, Yun Hong. Yun Hong did not make it out alive, and after the war was over, Yun Ling decided to fulfil a promise made to her sister: to build a Japanese garden in their home in Kuala Lumpur. She travelled to the highlands to visit family friend Magnus Pretorius, an ex-patriate South African tea farmer who knew Aritomo. Aritomo refused to work for Yun Ling but agreed to take her on as an apprentice, so she could later build her own garden. Despite her resentment against the Japanese, Yun Ling agreed to work for Aritomo and later became his lover.
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