The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
By David Mitchell
'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENT
Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial and Commonwealth Writers' Prizes
'Thrillingly suspenseful'
SUNDAY TIMES
'Stunning'
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'Brilliant'
THE TIMES
'Entirely original'
OBSERVER
'A classic'
WASHINGTON POST
The Sunday Times Number One bestseller from the author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue
In your hands is a place like no other: a tiny, man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki, for two hundred years the sole gateway between Japan and the West. Here, in the dying days of the eighteenth century, a young Dutch clerk arrives to make his fortune. Instead he loses his heart.
Step onto the streets of Dejima and mingle with scheming traders, spies, interpreters, servants and concubines as two cultures converge. In a tale of integrity and corruption, passion and power, the key is control - of riches and minds, and over death itself.
PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL
'A thrilling and gifted writer'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good'
DAILY MAIL
'Mitchell is, clearly, a genius'
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'An author of extraordinary ambition and skill'
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'A superb storyteller'
THE NEW YORKER
Being Mitchell, all is not what it seems. His use of magical realism captures the wonder and mysticism of a world steeped in deep traditions and spirituality. As his protagonist strays ever further over the boundaries imposed by society, he becomes increasingly immersed in Japanese culture.
The rich world created in this book was the inspiration for my first visit to Japan. I was compelled to see Dejima for myself. I achieved this dream as part of an epic journey which took me from the bright lights of Tokyo's megacity to the legacy of the hidden Christians on rural Hirado island. While what survives of Dejima today is a reconstruction, it was remarkable to stand in this historic location and imagine the bustling past of the place which was once responsible for all of the trade in and out of Japan, and the culture clash of nations."
