Book Review 2025 #8 - Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story, Vol. 15
A Bride's Story, Vol. 15 by Kaoru Mori
Published by: Yen Press
Publication Date: December 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Henry Smith's time in Asia has come to an end, or so his family has decreed. He has been captivated by his study of the Silk Road and the people he has met along the way. But his family are worried about him, his sporadic correspondence might be to blame, and they have "requested" that he return home. His family friend in Ankara, Mr. Hawkins, has been asked to intercede on their behalf as he himself is leaving the conflicted region. The fact that Henry is still alive is a bit of a shock to Mr. Hawkins, but nothing to the shock he will receive. Henry had wished to retrace his steps and say a fond farewell to all those he had met along the way, to try to capture them forever in his mind and on film with a camera he was able to acquire. This would have been a long, parlous, and probably impossible journey with the movement of Russian troops, but Henry has an additional hitch. Awhile back he met a young widow, Talas. They had fallen in love but her duty to her mother-in-law made her say goodbye to the scholarly Englishman. Yet her love for him endured and she has followed him to Ankara. Mr. Smith now intends to take her on this journey as his wife. Not just through their abbreviated sojourn among his past acquaintances, but all the way back to England. Mr. Hawkins begs him to reconsider but Henry's mind is made up. Eventually Henry, Talas, and her beloved horse Chubar, make their way to the Port of Bombay. There they book passage back to England. But Henry's homecoming is anything but welcoming. His mother won't even meet Talas and will do anything to stop them from actually marrying. The scandal would ruin them. Or so she claims. Thankfully Mr. Hawkins comes to the rescue. His family have a disused hunter lodge that Henry and Talas can live while things settle down at home. Henry will work on assembling his copious notes for publication while Talas will keep sheep. English sheep might look different, but a sheep is a sheep and she knows what she's doing. She's a practical woman. She's even considering putting Chubar out to stud. Yet Henry is her opposite, a true dreamer. Which is why he decides that if he presents Talas and his marriage as a fait accompli his family will accept her. They set out for Scotland with his brother and Mr. Hawkins as co-conspirators. But will their plan work? Only time will tell.
I first discovered Kaoru Mori back in 2010 through her manga series Emma. I was so desperate to read this story that was out of print stateside that I ordered the first volume from England. Thankfully the proceeding six volumes were available through my local library. Though, if you are a fan of this manga about a Victorian maid finding love, you will perhaps notice that my library didn't have the final three volumes and I had to wait until they were rereleased in an omnibus format to finally read the ending. And that didn't happen until seven years later. All this is to say that when a Kaoru Mori book comes out you buy it. You do whatever you can to buy that book because before you know it you won't be able to get your hands on it ever again. Yes, I'm looking at you Shirley. You're the holy grail. When A Bride's Story first started getting released in English in 2011 we were spoiled in that twice we got two volumes in a single year. Now it's a volume about every other year. Not that I'm complaining. Kaoru Mori's art is so intricate and amazing, down to the finest detail of fabric or bread, that I can't believe she can even keep to a biannual schedule. From the day I picked up this series I have been captivated but this "slice-of-life tale that is at once wholly exotic, yet familiar." The stories of each and every character have captivated me. They are my friends. We readers have journeyed with Mr. Smith along the silk road and met nomadic tribesmen, overstimulated twins, skilled hunters, sister wives, and blunt bread makers. When he started to head towards Ankara in Vol. 10 it was wistful. Because as readers it felt that once his journey came to an end the series would come to an end. And as he traveled with Talas to Port Bombay it felt like a farewell tour. We weren't just saying goodbye to these characters but this way of life that Russia would soon destroy. Yet this volume showed how this story could continue outside of Asia. We see Talas and Henry struggling and succeeding to make a life. It's a different, solitary kind of life, but I can't help feeling that as long as they have each other they will survive and thrive. Though what touched me most was the quiet moments. Kaoru Mori always has these vignettes that don't tie into the rest of the story but show a moment in time in these characters' lives. Here it was how Chubar was struggling on the sea voyage and how the ship's cat came to befriend and therefore calm him. It was this moment of two animals living symbiotically that brought a smile to my face on the darkest of nights. This series just keeps me in it's thrall. The black and white line work, the characters, their stories, I never want it to end. I can't wait for Vol. 16, but it will be at least two years. Perhaps I should reread it all again? Or maybe reread Emma... You can never have enough Kaoru Mori in your life.
Oxford by Matthew Rice
The Broken Afternoon by Simon Mason
What Cannot Be Said by C.S. Harris
The Montford Maniac by M.R.C. Kasasian
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen
Wicche Hunt by Seana Kelly
Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgmon
Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr
Scribbles, Vol. 3 by Kaoru Mori
Emma by Jane Austen
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron
Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron
The Great Mrs. Elias by Barbara Chase-Riboud
The Grayson Sherbrooke by Catherine Coulter
The Lady Has A Past by Amanda Quick
The Glorious Guinness Girls by Emily Hourican
The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M. White
Bronte by Manuela Santoni
The Shadow in the Glass by Jja Harwood
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
I Speak Boy by Jessica Brody
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel
Rogue Untouched by Alisa Kwitney
Bottle Demon by Stephen Blackmoore
Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill
Hail Mary by Andy Weir 
Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg
Friend of the Devil by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
21st Birthday by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
If, like many people, you discovered the marvel that is Anya Taylor-Joy during quarantine through either The Queen's Gambit or Emma. and are looking for something equally marvelous that she stars in, unlike say Thoroughbreds, may I bring The Miniatruist to your attention? An adaptation of the Jessie Burton book, this is a rare adaptation that is, in my mind, better than the book. And it's not just the delight in the dueling Emmas, Romala Garai portrayed Miss Woodhouse in the 2009 miniseries which still happens to be my favorite adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, though the Emmas was vastly entertaining to me. Everything about this miniseries that was distilled down from the book makes it a perfect story that doesn't overstay it's welcome, yes, I am looking at the book with a bit of side-eye. One of the reasons this is so wonderful is that sometimes an image does work better than words to convey a time period, and each and every single shot of this miniseries is lush with color and looks like it could be a painting by Vermeer! The clothes, the house, the cabinet, the miniatures, everything is just so perfect. Also, the way the camera frames the actors with long shots while they are in doorways almost makes them look like dolls themselves. Shivers for the parallels of the cabinet and the miniaturist making puppets of the household! If I have one complaint, and of course I always have one complaint, it's that Nella's confrontation of the miniaturist felt rushed and ill-defined. I'd almost prefer no explanation to the explanation we got. How she does what she does in a quickly whispered confession to being an observant person with a possible sixth sense. Seriously, more or nothing! Also, this really tamed the miniaturist in my opinion, in the book she is distinctly malevolent, especially towards Nella's sister-in-law Marin. But one complaint for the miniseries versus my unending list that I complied while reading the book once again proves that adaptation leads to flouishing. Darwin was right! Though I'm sure he didn't think it would be applied to a form of entertainment... 
Northanger Abbey
While "I Am Sure They Were Talking of Me" might be my most straightforward use of media, being nothing more than gesso and pencil, I really spent a lot of time thinking about the meaning behind my color and media choice as well as figure placement. I started with the blue paper, which one obvious interpretation is I chose it because of the rain that forced this meeting between Harriet Smith and Robert Martin and his sister Elizabeth in Ford's, but the secondary reason is because of the depressed spirits of all involved. Harriet and Robert and Elizabeth are all seeing each other for the first time since Harriet rejected Robert's marriage proposal, so you can imagine their barely concealed feelings. Which brings me to the fact that you can patently see that Harriet isn't even in this piece. I have completely removed her. The reasoning behind this is twofold, one, Elizabeth at first ignores her, but more importantly can you imagine how much Harriet just wanted to disappear? We have all had instances when we dread running into someone after a fight or a split, where we see them for the first time from a distance and just hope and pray fervently that they won't see us. This is the first time I really felt the humanity of Harriet, she is a real person versus Emma's plaything. This moment, more than any other in Emma, shows Harriet's humanity and insecurity. By eliminating her as the object of the two figure's focus I have given her her heartfelt desire to just disappear into the background. I have removed her from the situation entirely while her presence is still so obviously felt. But more than that, by having Robert looking not at a figure but into the distance I can feel hope that he has an inkling of his and Harriet's happily ever after, even if he's currently a little spiky, hence his angular lines. 
Emma lives a very cloistered life in Surrey. The fictional town of Highbury and her home of Hartfield are her entire world. A trip to Mr. Knightly's house is a big to-do. It's literally a half a mile away from Hartfield and Mr. Knightly visits Emma and her father daily and yet she hasn't been to Donwell Abbey in over two years! With these locations being in a small fixed sphere and fictional you might think that there's no way to "play the tourist" for Emma, but you'd be wrong. Because there is Box Hill! Box Hill is a very real place and if you think visiting Donwell Abbey is a big endeavor, just think about what going to an actual tourist site means for Emma? But it's just not the fact that Emma gets to see a glimpse of the wider world which makes Box Hill so important, it's that it's during this trip that everything comes to a head narratively speaking. During this trip Jane Fairfax decides to leave Highbury, Mr. Knightly gives up hope of winning Emma because of the display her and Frank Churchill put on, but most importantly this is where Knightly gives his "badly done Emma" smack down which makes her start to reflect inwardly and finally grow into the woman who would marry Mr. Knightly. Box Hill doesn't just command gloriously epic views of Surrey, it's an epic place psychologically for all our characters. Seriously, Box Hill is the linchpin of Emma. 
And while the excursion for our beloved characters mights not have gone to plan, that doesn't mean you should skip this destination spot which is 
