A delightfully slippery novel about how power shapes relationships, and what travel reveals and conceals ... Disorienting ... It is worth remembering that much of this paratext, fictional and real, is written in a world that has changed drastically since the characters’ travels and the heyday of Japanese imperialism.
Layers of commentary serve to make the story’s emotional center more difficult to access, and more fulfilling once you’ve earned it ... A straightforward story surrounded by many twisting layers of mystery.
