An American Branch: a Wonderful Story Set in Japan

My Rating: 

Author Kenneth Wayne has created fabulous characters in this wonderfully written book, about a love and sex triangle between Charles Journeyman, an American instructor in an American Branch of an University in Japan, and Reiko, his beautiful wife, and Yukiko, his sexy mistress, and mother to one of his students. There was more.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this novel, my first from Kenneth Wayne. It is very well constructed, with natural flow of prose, a good pace and fascinating insights into living and working in a foreign culture rather than your own, which many readers can appreciate, even if they cannot identify with. Personally I can, on both levels.

Since I have an academic background myself and used to teach English as a foreign language in a Chinese university, the subject matter and the characters in this book spoke to me. I was drawn towards the protagonist and could easily relate to what was happening to him and around him.

Spring Time in Japan

“On either side of the narrow street were many shops that catered to the thousands of people who lived in this suburb of Osaka. As I walked, I joined a fast-paced procession of lemmings drawn to station. Bicycles, buses, cars, and pedestrians rushed down the side-walk-less street by the hundreds and thousands in this daily migration.”

I have never been to Japan, however, with Mr Wayne’s depictions above, I felt as if I was there, walking among the Japanese commuters in Osaka, trying to catch the next train to work, just like Mr Journeyman.

As I dived deeper into this book, I was taken onto a memorable trip, meeting students whose English was not perfect, encountering a number of other interesting characters. All my senses were aroused and I was enchanted by a culture which was different from mine in many ways. By the time I came to the last page, I was reluctant to let it go, having throughly immersed myself in the experience, and my virtual visit to Japan.

There are explicit and erotic descriptions of sex, from a male perspective, which was very interesting even for a female reader. The sexual encounters are expertly presented and fun to read.

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I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about other cultures, whether you’ve been to Japan or not. There are universal themes which we all share as human beings. To me, it’s the differences between different cultures which are most intriguing and fascinating.

Author Bio:  Born and raised on the West Coast of the United States. Has spent the past couple of decades in Asia. Has written five novels, dozens of stories, a novel-length travelogue, and two ESL textbooks.

Another Fiction Featuring Charles Journeyman

Kenneth Wayne is the founder of the Electronic Text and Literature Cloud (eTLC). Use eTLC to discover the work of independent (indie) authors. The majority of writing on this cloud is available in a digitalized format, which provides indies a viable medium to distribute their work. Our focus is self-published material since we believe it remains closer to the “vision” of the writer than work reshaped by publishers with “elusive” marketing goals.

Links for An American Branch: Amazon UK; Amazon.Com; Smashwords

 Author Interview at Book Junkies Library