BookLife Reviews
10/25/2021
Stephens's debut fiction brings to life the heart-wrenching yet beautiful story of a woman growing up and living in Japan through the often horrific era of the 1940s through the 1960s. Inspired by the true story of her husband’s family, Stephens follows Noriko through her childhood, living through the bombing of Hiroshima, and as a young adult with dreams of going to the Takarazuka Theater Academy. When life doesn’t turn out the way she planned, Noriko finds a different happiness, marrying Ichiro, a man she’s deeply in love with, and becoming pregnant with their son, Hisashi, on their honeymoon. While still pregnant, they’re given the devastating news that Ichiro has tuberculosis, and their family’s future becomes desperately insecure.
Through every happy and excruciatingly painful moment, Stephens evokes the emotions of each character with great clarity and power, ensuring readers will feel as though they were experiencing the story themselves. At times almost unbearably intimate, All Sorrows Can Be Borne offers raw, painful insight into the ways that so much of everyday Japanese life in the period was shaped by income level or by being a woman: Noriko must go along with her husband’s plan to send their son to Ichiro’s sister and husband in America to raise him as their own, no matter how devastating the decision, to ensure their son will still have the future they can’t provide.
The novel’s structure reveals that decision early and then doubles back, through Noriko’s life, to explain it. Stephens contextualizes her characters and their choices with references to historical people and events, from Japan and the U.S., illuminating the era and this couple’s heartbreaking lack of freedom—especially Noriko’s. Stephens’s descriptions of the horrors Noriko witnessed in Hiroshima and her fears in later life of the long-term health effects are unforgettable. This moving saga will stun and enthrall readers.
Takeaway: Based on real events, a heartbreaking novel of the steps that lead a mother in 1960’s Japan to give up her son.
Great for fans of: Vanessa Springora’s Consent, Esther Safran Foer’s I Want You To Know We’re Still Here.
Production grades Cover: B+ Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A- Marketing copy: A
From the Publisher
Great Group Reads 2021
"Emotionally gripping with themes of true love, sacrifice, depression, and perseverance, All Sorrows Can Be Borne will give its readers so much to think about and be grateful for in their own lives. This is a beautiful, carefully written, detailed story filled with historical events and wonderful descriptions of Japan and Japanese customs."
—Manhattan Book Review
"All Sorrows Can Be Borne was absolutely beautiful. Loren Stephens writes the heart-wrenching story of Noriko and her husband Ichiro, a young Japanese couple who give up their son to American relatives. Readers who enjoy more serious novels would not want to miss out on this read..."
—San Francisco Book Review
"So many of us have suffered this past year or so. Many of us have had to dig deep within ourselves to learn how to bear sorrows and loss. Many of us have looked to the past for inspiration to get through difficult times. For all these reasons, Loren Stephens' All Sorrows Can Be Borne has come at the exact right time. Inspired by true events and real people, the story looks at pain and suffering but also the ultimate triumph of love, forgiveness, and compassion. I loved the book."
—Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and many more
"All Sorrows Can Be Borne is a harrowing story of love and betrayal, all the more heartbreaking because it is based on family history. Post-war Japan comes alive in these pages, and even the most unforgivable acts make a tragic kind of sense when viewed through the prism of violence that marked every one of the war's survivors. As this tale makes clear, in the wake of such trauma, humans can do the unthinkable, both to and for the ones they love."
—Aimee Liu, author of Glorious Boy
"Starting with the heart-wrenching opening chapter of All Sorrows Can be Borne, Loren Stephens weaves a tale of love, family, and loss with a page-turning plot. Both harrowing and tender, this generous and emotional novel pulls you into a story of character and place that’s hard to put down. This is a beautiful book."
—Barbara Abercrombie, author of The Language of Loss
"Stephens evokes the emotions of each character with great clarity and power, ensuring readers will feel as though they were experiencing the story themselves….This moving saga will stun and enthrall readers.”
—Publishers Weekly
"The characters’ perseverance through continual struggle makes for a compelling story of survival of life’s many trials and of one person’s drive to stay true to oneself."
—Kirkus
“An engrossing read, which is likely to catch the eye of a movie producer or director. Highly recommended.”
—Historical Novel Society
"An eloquent and engaging novel that was inspired by true events and deftly written with a compelling sensitivity, All Sorrows Can Be Borne explores how families are shaped by political and economic circumstances, tremendous loss and ultimately forgiveness. One of those masterpiece works of literary fiction All Sorrows Can Be Borne is especially and unreservedly recommended."
—Midwest Book Review
