Sweet Bean Paste has been on my TBR since early last year. It was a book club selection I very much wanted to read, but ultimately wasn’t able to due to time restraints. Now that I’ve read it I completely understand why the book club crew was so excited about it!
From the Publisher
Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.
But everything is about to change.
Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.
My Thoughts
Sweet Bean Paste is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. It’s a deeply emotional story that centers on discrimination, second chances, and the importance that it is never too late to start living your own life. Sentaro and Tokue are wonderfully written. Flawed and sympathetic characters that you just can’t help rooting for every step of the way.
Sukegawa uses the changing of the seasons to provide readers with beautiful scenes and to establish the flow of the story. It’s in the spring when Sentaro and Tokue first meet. Sentaro works at the failing confectionery shop Doraharu where he makes dorayaki every day in hopes of paying off a large debt that he owes the business owners. Sentaro dislikes sweets and has no emotional attachment to Doraharu. Then one day the elderly Tokue is the only one that answers Doraharu’s job ad. Despite his uncertainties about hiring someone as old as Tokue, it soon becomes apparent that Tokue is more than capable.
As the seasons continue to change you learn more about Sentaro’s and Tokue’s past. You cheer for them as they bond and begin turning Doraharu into a success. You get angry when customers soon begin turning their backs on Tokue and her sweet bean taste.
I love reading. Always have. But it’s rare for me to be very emotional when reading a book. It was different with Sweet Bean Paste. I was crying toward the end at the injustice of it all. Sweet Bean Paste is a moving read and one I highly recommend.
My Rating
Bookish Maiden 
There is a rather delightful film too, which I thought was very beautifully made – and left me salivating for dorayaki.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4298958/
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