The Kizuna Coast

I am dragging a little in my reading log, so here's a little catch up.

The Kizuna Coast, Sujata Massey.

I was at the library looking for mysteries set in Japan, preferably by Japanese writers. This one checked the first box. Massey is an American writer, born in the UK to one Indian and one German parent. She's written historical novels as well as mysteries set in Japan and also India. She lived for a while in Japan, so her Japanese novels are grounded in actual lived experience.

This is far from the greatest book I have ever read, but then again it exceeds any book that I have ever written (I will give myself credit for my dissertation) in quality and Massey has succeeded as a writer. Her books have been translated into a bunch of different languages and a whole passel of her books are on the shelf of the Chapel Hill Public Library, so my hat must remain off to her.

The novel differentiates itself most from ones I've read before in its feminine sensibility, verging on what I imagine are some of the tropes of mass romance novels (I should really read one of those someday, for example of written by Karen Booth, Steve Balcom's wife). To wit, there's enthusiastic sex in the novel, but none of the anatomical precision found in male novels. Instead, there's enthusiastic love for and arousal by our heroine's hunky husband, both back home in Hawaii and when he surprises her somewhere mid-plot.

Then there's the tendency towards wholeness, positivity and sentimentality. The novel takes place in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear crisis of 2011. A beloved old colleague of the heroine disappears and she flies from Hawaii to Japan then makes her way towards the disaster zone to find him. There's a lot of death and disruption. People are living under tough conditions in emergency shelters. Though there are a few missing people who stay dead, for the most part there are a series of miraculous finds, saves, and recoveries. Our heroine befriends a young family in the shelter and they form a heartwarming bond. And so on. To the extent possible in a mystery novel (where someone more or less has to die), within the micro-universe of the characters wholeness is re-established and everyone lives happily ever after. There are lots of miraculous coincidences, alongside just enough danger and anxiety to be a proper mystery.

Again, not my absolute favorite, but it's heartening to know that this genre of generally positive, maternally oriented mysteries are out there, and that this very pleasant woman earns a good living servicing and cultivating that community. Plus I learned some stuff about Japan. I will likely check another out from the library sometime.