Published in 2024, this heart-warming novel was recommended by a friend whose reading tastes are nearly as eclectic as mine. Nick Bradley’s story of cross-generational relationships is set in Onomichi, a small town in the Prefecture of Heroshima. And it comes as a novel within a novel. The framing story gives us Flo Dunthorpe, a young American in Tokyo. Her Japanese is fluent and she is a professional translator with one book under her belt. In need of a new project she starts to translate Sound of Water by Hibiki into English and is enthralled by it. But she doesn’t have the (anonymous) author’s permission or her publisher’s agreement. Flo’s translation constitutes the backbone of Bradley’s novel with seasonal dives back to Flo and her progress or lack of it along with her anxieties. In some hands it might be clumsy. Here it flows as smoothly as the Sumida River.
Kyo has failed the exams he needs for entry to medical school. So he’s sent. aged 19, by his busy, arguably neglectful, doctor mother to stay with his paternal grandmother. Ayako livwa nearly 500 miles to the south west in Onomichi. The train journey is interesting because he opts for the slow route rather than the Bullet Train – lots of local detail including Fujiyama and an overnight stop in Osaka. He must now attend what Brits usually call a crammer so that he can resit his exams. Kyo’s father, a war photographer died by suicide when Kyo was a baby. Their shared loss ought to be something they can bond over but Ayako – strong, irascible, forthright, hurting, determined to be strict and very keen on traditional Japanese courtesy and respect – will not discuss her lost son. The novel explores the ebb and flow of that dynamic as, very gradually, an understanding begins to develop between grandmother and grandson.
Because it’s a small town everyone knows everyone else, and Ayako, who owns a coffee shop, is central to the community. There are lovely cameos of, for example, of the railway station manager and a man who owns a CD shop. Everyone, including the girl Kyo meets on the train journey from Tokyo, is pleasant, welcoming and supportive although, initially he misses the bright lights of the city and feels pretty resentful.
Kyo is an exceptionally talented artist. He sketches all the time, creates cartoons and his real, deep-seated ambition is to be a professional manga artist. His absentee mother, however, has never let him think of anything but medical school. So there’s conflict – except that the Japanese mindset does not support young people rebelling against the adults who are responsible for them. And this novel is, in many ways, a celebration of Japanese culture, from the food, drinks, kimonos and language to, of course, what Heroshima stands for. The section when Kyo and Ayako visit the city is very moving.
Also central to this story are the street cats Ayako feeds and her favourite, the one eyed Coltraine (sot of) moves in with her, strictly on his own terms. At the end of the novel back in the framing device, we meet the nice old cat who inspired the creation of Coltraine.
And as if that weren’t enough there are a couple of gay relationships gently woven into the mix. Flo’s American/Japanese girlfriend has returned to New York for work and they drift apart because Flo wanted to stay in Japan although she has many conflicted feelings. The other relationship is between men and comes peacefully at the very end of the novel when Flo finally visits Onomichi.
I found it an engaging, thoughtful read and I learned a lot about Japan.
Next week on Susan’s Bookshelves: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
