Several months ago, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet received glowing reviews in the USA Today. The story seemed intriguing in an Asian setting, I had to have it. I ordered it from Amazon and sneaked it on to the shelf were it sat until now.
Talk about a hook! The first chapter shocked me. I had to keep reading after that. Every night before I go to bed, I read. Every night I looked forward to reading the next few chapters. That elevated level of anticipation doesn't happen to me very often.
The author is a master of language. This is the story of Dutch merchants living and trading on a small island in Japan in 1799. The dialect was perfectly written and that is not a simple task. Dutch people are trying to speak Japanese while the Japanese are translating for the Dutch. Then throw in a British captain and his sailors all while writing for a person reading in English.
I felt I was in the place and time period, not only because of the dialogue but because the prose is amazing. The author's word choice was spectacular and transported me into each scene. I breathed the air, smelled the sea, and felt each character's pain.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is a beautifully written, powerful story of strategy and intrigue. I'm rating it a 4 out of 5 because I loved it but I was disappointed in the ending. That happens sometimes even in the stories we adore.
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