A True Novel by Minae Mizumura, Juliet Winters Carpenter
A young woman from a higher socioeconomic level falls in love with and is adored by a man who is beneath her. The plot begins shortly after World War Two. In the book, the Heathcliff equivalence is treated like a stepchild. Because his father was Manchurian Chinese rather than pure Japanese, he is an outcast both in his own family and in society at large. The romance begins between a girl and a guy and develops as they get older.
The narrator of the book opens in New York by describing how she met Taro Azuma and how, despite their brief acquaintance, she couldn’t help but think about him. By chance or providence, a young man who is much more knowledgeable about Taro than she ever was approaches her and tells her the tale that was told to him back in Japan.
A True Novel by Minae Mizumura, Juliet Winters Carpenter
1 used from $48.34
Amazon.com
In the first chapter of A True Novel, Taro, a persistently ambitious Japanese immigrant attempting to build his fortune, is introduced to the reader in 1960s New York. His life is revealed through flashbacks and interwoven tales, including his poor childhood as an orphan, his ultimate climb to wealth and success (against race and class prejudice), and his lifelong obsession with a girl from a wealthy family. The focus of A True Novel then broadens to include a study of Japan’s westernization and the rise of the middle class.
Mizumura, the recipient of Japan’s prestigious Yomiuri Literature Prize, created a stunning book with love at its centre that demonstrates the power of narrative above all else.
