When We Were Orphans

Kazuo Ishiguro has left his mark on the labyrinth of human memory, the ways in which we adapt and change it, trick and deliver ourselves with it. With uncommon originality, sensitivity, sly humor, and insight, he has examined this inner world and how it manifests in his characters' lives in his earlier works. His first book in five years, When We Were Orphans, takes readers back to this territory with a masterfully written tale that highlights the influence of one's history on one's present.

At the age of nine, Christopher Banks, an English child born in Shanghai in the early 1900s, loses both of his parents to strange disappearances. Once sent to live in England, he develops into a well-known investigator and, over twenty years later, goes back to Shanghai, the epicenter of the Sino-Japanese War, to unravel the mystery of the disappearances.

The narrative is simple. It tells an amazing story. Given that Christopher has dedicated his life to the scrutiny of minutiae and the demands of objective reasoning, his tone is composed, precise, and dispassionate. However, what he can't or won't see gradually emerges from the layers of his story: that his memory—despite his desire to think otherwise—is not immune to the tragedies of his early life; that his perception abilities, the much-heralded clarity of his vision, can be both blinding and enlightening; and that the most basic desires—a child's for his parents, a man's for understanding—may give rise to the most complex realities.

When We Were Orphans is a brilliant work of narrative mastery and soaring imagination, showcasing Kazuo Ishiguro's greatest qualities.