'Cherry' Ingram

An enchanting story about an Englishman’s attempts to preserve Japan’s rich cherry tree heritage in the face of rapid modernization

Japan Times

Remarkable… Combining vast historical research, perceptive cultural interpretation, and a gift for keen, biographical storytelling, Abe’s study of one man’s passion for a singular plant species celebrates the beneficial impact such enthusiasts can have on the world at large

Booklist

Lovers of the outdoors, especially gardeners, will find much to enjoy in Japanese journalist Abe’s first English-language book, which won the Nihon Essayist Club Award in 2016. The author engagingly chronicles the travels and plant-collecting adventures of Collingwood Ingram… Charming

Kirkus Review

Set against the narrative arc of Japanese history, journalist Naoko Abe's account of the man behind the preservation of her country's national symbol is both sympathetic and compelling... On reading this book, beautifully illustrated with atmospheric period shots and colour plates, you may well determine, as I have, to visit Japan at cherry blossom time

Vanessa Berridge, Sunday Express

An admiring and engaging portrait of an eccentric British enthusiast, one of the last great amateur naturalists of the Edwardian Era

Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History Magazine

Sympathetic and engrossing... a portrait of great charm and sophistication, rich in its natural and historical range, guaranteeing that you won’t look at cherry blossoms the same way again

Dr Christopher Harding, Guardian

An engaging biography of a man who "helped to change the face of spring"

Ian Critchley, Sunday Times

‘Cherry’ Ingram is a meticulously researched book: Abe undertook dozens of interviews with relatives of the sakuramori… [and] sifted through Ingram’s extensive diaries and condenses the often impenetrable history of Japan’s feudal and imperial ages

Alice Vincent, Daily Telegraph

After reading [‘Cherry’ Ingram], the annual ritual of hanami (flower-viewing) will never be quite the same again… an extraordinary story

Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times

In retelling [Ingram’s] story from her own cultural perspective, Abe has produced an engaging work that adds illuminating definition to the world about which he wrote

Jodie Jones, Gardens Illustrated

[A] lovely book… Two tensions animate this book: the difficulty of sending fragile scions around the world and successfully grafting them; and the wrenching historical context… It is hard to view the blossoms of the somei-yashino with such tender joy after reading Ms Abe’s book

Economist

A page turner... Naoko Abe parallels her biography with a comprehensive history of cherries, intersected with major moments in Japanese history... There is a heartwarming end to the tale that the author spins with skill and erudition

Tania Compton, Country Life

[A] deeply moving book -- beautifully written, and a huge achievement in terms of research

Claire Kohda Hazelton, The Spectator

Like the sakura itself, Ms. Abe’s book is a quiet pleasure

Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal

A remarkable book…excellent...fascinating, a treat for gardeners, cherry-growers and historians

Robin Lane Fox, Financial Times

This is not just a tale of trees, but of the symbolism of the cherry tree to Japan: of endeavour, war and reconciliation

Sunday Times, Books of the Year