An intelligent novel that examines the circumstances of the here and now. Ozeki carefully preserves the dying language of the honorary humble form spoken by my favorite character, Jiko, a 100+ year old Zen Buddhist Nun. I thought about all the wisdom the generations before me have left me.
— Saaya
“Nao, a suicidal Japanese girl, postpones her death as she grows closer to her 104-year-old great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Ruth, an American author with writer's block, discovers a diary washed ashore on her remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Ruth becomes obsessed with Nao and her diary, and readers will be drawn in as their stories intertwine. Ozeki's creatively constructed novel, complete with footnotes, Japanese characters, and appendices, will have readers marveling at the leaps in time and connection that bring the two women together in this witty, daring, and thoughtful novel.”
— Cheryl Krocker McKeon, Book Passage, San Francisco, CA