For decades now, Pico Iyer has been based for much of the year in Nara, Japan, where he and his Japanese wife, Hiroko, share a two-room apartment. But when his father-in-law dies suddenly, calling him back to Japan earlier than expected, Iyer begins to grapple with the question we all do: how to hold on to the things we love, even though we know that we and they are dying. In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honouring the dead, this question has a special urgency and currency. Iyer leads us through the autumn following his father-in-law's death, introducing us to the people who populate his days: his ailing mother-in-law, who often forgets that her husband has died; his absent brother-in-law, who severed ties with his family years ago but to whom Hiroko still writes letters; and the men and women in his ping-pong club, who, many years his senior, traverse their autumn years in different ways.
ISBN: | 9781526611468 |
Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Imprint: | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Published date: | 02 Apr 2020 |
DEWEY: | 952.1 |
DEWEY edition: | 23 |
Language: | English |
Number of pages: | 235 |
Weight: | 208g |
Height: | 197mm |
Width: | 128mm |
Spine width: | 26mm |