I was excited to read this book. The jacket flap kind of scared me a bit, thinking it might be harsh and gritty, but I found the opposite to be true. The story is set in 1938, during World War II, during the Japanese occupation of China. Our protagonists are a Japanese officer sent to man a lonely, inconsequential garrison outside a remote Chinese village and a Chinese woman he rescues from the lusts of his own men.
The story is told in two-parts, with each chapter alternating between his and her points of view. Through their dialog, we see two people desperate to connect but held back by layer upon layer of social constraint: male-female, officer-servant, Japanese-Chinese, captor-captive, and on and on. They find a way to coexist with an uneasy peace between them, and an even uneasier peace between the officer and his men, who are visibly disgusted with the presence of this woman in their camp.
Told in sparse, beautiful prose, this book provided an unusual perspective on relationships born of tragedy and desperation. Thought-provoking and sincere, this book was a nice change of pace from the easy brain candy I’d been enjoying recently. Difficult, but definitely worth the read.