Summary of Fifty Words for Rain

Fifty Words for Rain is a historical novel by Asha Lemmie, not Helen Sarah Fields. The book is set in post-World War II Japan and follows the life of Noriko “Nori” Kamiza, the Illegal child of an aristocratic Japanese mother and a Black American soldier. Nori faces societal rejection due to her multiracial roots and is raised by her strict maternal grandparents who hide her away and subject her to harsh treatments to lighten her skin.