This book is an heartwrenching account of a passionate love between a man, KaitarÅ and a woman, Rina, which ends in a tragic murder. I slowly got seduced by the narrative, told by the daughter, Sumiko. Beautiful impressions of Japanese landscape and culture are a delight that add something special to this debut inspired by a true crime story.
I have other memories too, but they are not of Shimoda. These appear to me as glimpses and flashes. In my mind's eye, the line of the coast straightens, the rocky inlets of Shimoda are replaced by an open harbour, and I hear the slap of my feet on concrete as I run and run. There are moments of clarity, liquid scenes: I see a yacht on the waves, its sails stretched taut; I feel strong arms lifting me into the air; I turn away from the bright sun glinting off a camera lens; a man's hand offers me a cone of red bean ice cream, a man with long elegant fingers that do not belong to my father.
