(page 39)
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a page-turner thanks to its high-stakes adventure, torrid love affairs and characters so real they seem to follow you around. And in the end, this gripping novel asks us not just to consider a lost chapter of a famous war but also to explore what it means to be lucky—and what it means to be loved.”
“[A] harrowing novel of destruction and creation [that] will appeal to fans of historical fiction.” (Starred review)
“Epstein’s second novel (after The Painter from Shanghai) is bursting with characters and locales. Yet painful, authentic (Epstein has lived and worked in Asia), and exquisite portraits emerge of the personal impact of national conflicts—and how sometimes those conflicts can be bridged by human connections.”
“An epic novel about a young Japanese girl during World War II underscores the far-reaching impact that the decisions of others can have.”
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment showcases war’s bitter ironies…as well as its romantic serendipities.”
“[A] memorable time is magnificently portrayed by this knowledgeable, talented author. [The Gods of Heavenly Punishment] is a superb read, without being saccharine or hyped, and necessary historical fiction.”
“Jennifer Cody Epstein’s triumphant second novel is a big, visceral, achingly humane portrait of wartime Japan and several Americans charged with building and destroying it. The sweep of Epstein’s vision is matched by her empathetic attention to the smallest details in the lives of the people who inhabit it.”
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a stirring, unflinching and deeply empathetic exploration of a relatively little-known chapter of history during the second World War. Through her impeccable research and gorgeous prose, Epstein skillfully evokes Tokyo and the United States– before, during and after wartime– through a story both edifying and thrilling, subtle and profound.”
“Brimming with fascinating characters and edge-of-one’s-seat suspense, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is also a meticulously-researched, gorgeously-written, grown-up meditation on war, loss, and hope.”
“With stunning clarity, Epstein has re-created Tokyo both before and after the bombing in a novel that raises still-unanswered questions about the horrors of war, the cruelty associated with it and the lasting impression it can make on a person, a people or a place.”
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment shows, with rare understanding, how vectors of desire and hope, ignorance and accident, ambition and resilience drive individual fates, and, so, the fates of nations. The web is intricate, and it is sticky: you will be caught and held, until you find it is you who are holding on to these characters, these stories, even long after you have closed the book.”
“I dare you to read this and not be swept up. The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is shocking and delicate in equal measure.”
“Jennifer Cody Epstein depicts the firebombing of Tokyo and concurrent events in unflinching but delicately rendered detail. Immaculately researched and deeply imagined, this is an astonishing novel whose battles and intimate encounters alike carry the force of electric jolt. I have never read anything else like it.”
“With the drama and sweep of The English Patient and a rich, painterly sensibility all her own, Jennifer Cody Epstein has created an indelible portrait of the war in the Pacific, seen through the eyes of six characters whose stories will haunt you long after the final brush stroke.”
“Beautifully researched and evoked, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment brings to haunting, dramatic life one of the most destructive acts of warfare ever perpetrated. In its passion and sweep, this lovely book does artful justice to the profound, contradictory connections between victims and victors, public histories and private lives.”
When asked about who or what I find inspiring as a writer, I tend to find myself floundering. An obsessive reader who consumes three or four novels at a time, the term “inspiration” evokes not one source for me, but a whole tide of them; fluid and intermingled, perpetually fed by the towering piles on my nightstand and the (...)
Read More →
One of the most frequent questions I get as a historical novelist is: “How much of what you write is really history?” It’s a good question. And an important one, I think–especially given how discomfort-making the blending of fact and fiction can be. It’s sort of the literary version of mixing beer and liquor: for some people, even the idea (...)
Read More →
“If everyone could be there just once, to see for themselves what white phosphorous does to the face of a child, or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet or how a jagged piece of shrapnel can rip someone’s leg off – if everyone could be there to see the fear and the grief, just one time, then they’d (...)
Read More →
“How much evil must we do in order to do good?” It’s a question posed by Robert MacNamara in Errol Morris’s 2003 documentary The Fog of War, and one I’ve thought a lot about in these past weeks as the debate over our drone policy has escalated–most recently, with Tuesday’s release of top-secret intelligence which outlines just how casual our overseas killing (...)
Read More →Earlier this week I was delighted to guest post for the very excellent historical fiction blog Reading The Past. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how the covers for my novels are come up with and how my book is marketed to specific groups, so when ReadingthePast’s host Sarah Johnson mentioned she too had an interest in the topic (...)
Read More →
