Review: The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa

 

 The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

I really enjoyed this sweet story about a Professor, his Housekeeper and the Housekeeper's son. It was very simply but beautifully written. I enjoyed watching the relationships among the characters grow throughout the book. It's a fairly quick and easy read but there is so much to the story beyond just the words. It's a beautiful story that I think anyone would appreciate. It's a very refreshing book - simplistic and focusing on themes of family, friendship, unity and symmetry. I really enjoyed it and thought the world created by Ogawa was very charming and engaging. There is a great deal of mathematics and baseball weaved throughout the book and I was initially skeptical of whether or not Ogawa could pull that off. Particularly since I am not a fan of math or baseball. However, I found myself reading those passages with interest, almost despite myself. The math/baseball pieces really added something interesting and special to this little book. And, the author was able to weave those pieces in so effectively to reinforce the themes of the book. So very interesting and well done! I definitely recommend this one!