A story where the real and the surreal world are closely intertwined; A detective and a love story with an enigma at the heart of it; A beautiful depiction of the Japanese way of life and cultural heritage. H. P. Lovecraft meets Haruki Murakami in a new amazing novel by Anait Grigoryan. The author lures you into a mystical and at the same time such a real and vivid world of the Japanese culture where the mundane is hard to tell from the supernatural, and the humdrum is intertwined with myths and legends. Alexander, a young economist from Russia, comes to Japan to work for a bank in Nagoya. But when the contract is terminated, ashamed by his failure, Alexander chooses to go to a tiny fisherman island Himakajima deep in the Mikawa Bay, instead of returning home. He hopes that a calm and monotonous way of life on the island will help him figure his life out. But Kami (Japanese spirits) have different plans. Alexander settles into the life on the island but instead of figuring himself out, he becomes increasingly more confused. He starts an affair with his landlord’s wife, while also falling for Tomoko Yasuda, a beautiful but doleful student from Tokyo, who’s in a relationship with a local fisherman. There’s also Kisyo Kamatu, a mysterious waiter in a small restaurant called Tako, which is the Japanese for an octopus. Alexander becomes friends with Kisyo, which leads to him being dragged into a string of unexplainable events, relationships and deaths, where both the islanders and Alexander’s ex-colleagues play their part. There are mysterious and dangerous happenings on the island, where the truth is intertwined with make-believe and ancient Japanese myths and legends, and Alexander finds himself trapped at the heart of those, while the approaching typhoons make it impossible for him to escape his fate… A must-read novel for all the fans of the Japanese culture, as well as the genre of magic realism. This gripping and sophisticated page-turner will keep you hooked till the last page!
