Kanazawa

In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitts future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, hes surprised to discover Mirais subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes. Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitts search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawas most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English. While continually resisting Mirais efforts to move to Tokyo, Emmitt becomes drawn into the mysterious death thirty years prior of a mutual friend of Mirais parents. It is only when he and his father-in-law climb the mountain where the man died that he learns the somber truth, and in turn discovers what the future holds for him and his wife. Packed with subtle literary allusion and closely observed nuance, with an intimacy of emotion inexorably tied both to the cityscape and Japans mountainous terrain, Kanazawa reflects the mood of Japanese fiction in a fresh, modern incarnation.