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The Lovers' Room
 
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The Lovers' Room (Paperback)

by Steven Carroll (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £3.49 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Lovers' Room + The Diplomat's Wife + Kommandant's Girl (MIRA)
Price For All Three: £12.89

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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Mira Books (20 April 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 077830146X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0778301462
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 262,560 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
'A beautifully written book about love, jealousy and betrayal.' --Lovereading<br /><br />If, as they say, the past is another country, then Carroll is the ideal guide. --Sydney Morning Herald

If, as they say, the past is another country, then Carroll is the ideal guide. --Sydney Morning Herald

Product Description
The lovers room would always be theirs, and they would take it with them wherever they went. As the Allied forces occupy Japan at the end of World War II, an intense love affair develops between Australian Allen Spin Bowler, an interpreter in the British army, and Momoko, a woman whose calmness and dignity veil the tiredness and defeat she has suffered. In the quiet sanctuary of Momoko's room, Spin gradually sheds his shy bookish self and their love blossoms. However, the betrayal that follows has devastating consequences, forever changing the course of both their lives. A powerful and compelling story of love found and lost, of trust and passion, secrets and jealousy, The Lovers Room is nothing short of unforgettable.

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this one!, 20 April 2007
By NYK Media (Scotland, UK) - See all my reviews
Every once in a while I read a really special book and it stays with me, enabling me to 'spread the good word'. This should win awards, and warrants it's place on my list of favourite 'new books'.

I'm not normally drawn to wartime novels and I wasn't relishing the thought of another wartime slog. But this book stopped me in my tracks and taught me the ultimate and age old lesson that one should NEVER judge a book by its cover!

I was expecting Geisha meets Pearl Harbour. What I got was an absolutely stunning read! Intricately written, this character perfect, semi-tragic romance should touch even the stoniest heart and, in my personal opinion, must be incorporated into the lists of any reading group. In fact, I can't wait to have someone else read this book just so we can debate it's full meaning afterwards!

The story is perfectly summed up by the briefest of descriptions: 'A fragile love affair... a devastating betrayal'. The blurb on the back cover includes words such as, 'calmness, dignity, defeat, passion and unforgettable', but you, as the reader, are lead through the entire tale as though living a part of it. Truth and reality, supposition and illusion, I simply cannot wait to discuss this one and implore future readers to leave their reviews here.

My suggestion - be among the first to discuss the underlying truths that have been intricately woven into the fabric of this story. You, too, can ponder the possibilities and reasons. You, too, can share my wonderings.

Not until completing the book and attempting to fully summarise it's true meaning, did I discover that what I had automatically assumed, may not be it at all! I am still intrigued and may even need to read this one again...!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Hidden depths, 21 May 2007
I came away from the recent London Book Fair with three books written by Australian authors; two were complete stinkers and are winging their way to charity shops but the nice people from Mira let me have a copy of The Lover's Room. This is glorious book which I will keep on the shelf to reread because, as well as being an intriguing story beautifully told, it is it has hidden depths - layers I am sure I didn't peel off on the first read.

The lovers' room belongs to Momoko, a British-educated Japanese woman forced to return to Tokyo at the outbreak of war with her diplomat father. Her outward dignity and serenity belie the exhaustion she feels after four years of war, the devastation of her country and the loss of so many loved ones. When she meets Alan "Spin" Bowler she wants to believe that at last she has a chance for happiness. Spin is an Australian working as a translator in the British Army of Occupation and had briefly met Momoko before the war at a diplomatic reception in London. Consorting with the "enemy" is forbidden but they both find love and security in stolen moments in their secret hideaway until a jealous act of betrayal tears them apart and changes the course of their lives forever. Fast forward to 1973 and a chance encounter with an English student launches Spin, now a Professor in Melbourne, on a journey to discover what really happened that day and what might have become of Momoko.

A story of love, betrayal, guilt and survival, it is also an examination of truth and reality, illusion and self delusion; you are challenged throughout the book to examine what you are reading from this perspective and it is this which gives the book its edge and energy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Pathetic rapist more suitable title...., 17 Oct 2007
By A. Odina (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The 'love' affair doesn't come across as mutual but the boring and pathetic Spin is so caught up in his fantasy that he fails to notice and eventually Spin rapes 'his' Momoko in a fit of unfounded jealousy which I suppose is the betrayal. The story goes from hopelessly bland to annoying and none of the characters inspire compassion. Not a gripping read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars boring
I really didn't enjoy this book which is a shame because it could have been very good. I love reading Japanese / Chinese books but The Lovers Rooms really didn't do it for me at... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. Milner

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