9.13.2010
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
by David Mitchell, 479 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B
Again I picked up a popular fiction novel... this time because it's set in Japan. The story revolves around a Dutch clerk Jacob de Zoet who has left his beloved Anna behind in the Netherlands to hopefully make his fortune on the island of Dejima. For those not up on their Japanese history, the Dutch were the only Westerners allowed by the shogun to trade with the Japanese for many, many years. Unfortunately for Jacob, Dejima is in dire straights having lost their previous year's trading ship at sea. Not only must he deal with the motley cast who makes up the company at Dejima, but his heart is distracted by the face of one of Dr. Marinus' pupils, midwife Orito Aibagawa.
Labels: genre: fiction, genre: historical, media: book