The surviving girls, horrified by what has happened, cannot recall the face of the stranger and offer little in the way of detail that might help track him down.Ī couple of years later Emily’s mother, half demented by grief, needs someone to blame. Her four friends - Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko - are with her when a stranger approaches them and asks for help.Ĭivic-minded Emily goes off with him, leaving her friends behind. The book pivots around one central act: the murder of a 10-year-old school girl in rural Japan.
It’s the kind of story that throws up lots of questions about moral culpability, justice and retribution, and it makes for yet another compelling read. It still deals with the notion of vengeance and murder, and posits the idea that if you’re a witness in a crime case but can’t remember crucial details that may help catch the culprit, then you’re not much better than the criminal who carried out the act. It charts similar territory but isn’t quite as dark. It was a compelling read, but incredibly dark - and it didn’t exactly chime well with my moral compass. Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel.Ī few years ago I read Kanae Minato’s debut novel Confessions about a teacher who accuses two of her pupils of a terrible crime, then seeks vengeance on them. Fiction – paperback Mulholland Books 240 pages 2017.
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