At the beginning of the novel, we meet a teenaged, Japanese schoolgirl named Nao through her lost diary, which has washed ashore at a small beach half-a-world away from her home. Nao's diary is found by Ruth, a writer living with her husband in a small town in British Columbia. Through her writings, it becomes clear that Nao has been struggling to re-acclimate herself to her native country and its culture since her family moved back to Japan after her father lost his high-powered job at a Silicon Valley tech company. Bullied unmercifully at school and contemplating suicide, Nao begins the diary with the hope that someone somewhere will read her story. Her one goal before ending her life, however, is to document the life story of her 104-year-old great grandmother, a Zen Buddhist nun named Jiko, a woman who is clearly ahead of her time.
Ruth is struggling with issues of her own, including a severe case of writer's block and a sense that life and time may be passing her by. Ruth is gripped by Nao's compelling story and the sheer mystery of how the diary, which was tucked inside a lunchbox that also contained various letters and a copy of the book In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, made its way across the ocean to her. She embarks on a mission to learn the fate of the troubled teenager and her family.
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| Author Ruth Ozeki |
Ozeki succeeds in lending three uniquely beautiful voices to the characters of the emotionally-fragile Nao; the intellectual Ruth; and the wise, old woman Jiko -- producing a novel that is warm, thoughtful, and truly moving. It is a wonderful tale about three remarkable women that will surely stand the test of time.
Check out professional reviews of the novel from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, and The New York Times.
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