The Electrical Field - Hardcover

Sakamoto, Kerri

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393046923 ISBN 13: 9780393046922

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1999

Synopsis

When a lonely, middle-aged Japanese-Canadian woman is implicated in the murder of a beautiful young girl in a small Ontario suburb, the whole community is forced to come to terms with its dark past. A first novel. 12,500 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Kerri Sakamoto was born and raised in Toronto where she currently resides. She earned her master's degree from New York University. She has been a scriptwriter for independent films, and has written extensively on Asian North American art. Her short fiction was included in Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction. The Electrical Field is her first novel.

Reviews

Set in the 1970s, in a bleak neighborhood of bungalows beyond which looms a field of imposing electrical towers, Sakamoto's memorable first novel explores the hidden anguish of Japanese Canadians as they struggle with the lingering effects of the WWII internment camps. The action of the novel takes place in the weeks after a Japanese-born woman and her Canadian lover are found murdered. The woman's husband, the prime suspect, abruptly withdraws their children from school and disappears, leaving everyone frightened about the childrens' fate. Narrating the story is Asako Saito, an unmarried, middle-aged neighbor, who devotes her life to caring for her ailing father and her youngest brother. Miss Saito is as wise as she is repressed, and in her years of friendship with the murder victim, Chisako, learned the unhappy truth about her friend's marriage to the man now suspected of killing her. As a detective investigating the murder questions the neighbors, Sakamoto brings this community of remarkable misfits to life through Miss Saito's thoughts and memories. Miss Saito is gradually revealed as a complex and riveting character whose own haunting memories of the internment camp and of her beloved older brother, Eiji, are woven deftly into the narrative. The spare intensity of the opening chapters gives way to the terrible beauty of Miss Saito's story. Shame and loss, immutable as the grim electrical towers, hang over Sakamoto's characters, but love also makes its distinct mark in this richly observed, elegantly restrained debut.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rarely does a debut novelist exhibit the skillful use of narrative that pervades this work. Miss Saito, the narrator of the story, is a middle-aged woman of Japanese heritage whose family was incarcerated in internment camps on the West Coast during World War II. She has spent her life "wanting the world my way, never to change, ever." Set in a suburban community in Ontario during the 1970s, this novel relates the murder of Miss Saito's neighbor Chisako and her lover. It is later discovered that Chisako's husband has killed their two children and taken his own life. During the investigation of these tragic deaths, Miss Saito's connection to the murders and her closely guarded secrets are disclosed. The memorable character of the protagonist and the smooth, unfolding narrative will encourage readers to remember this author's name. Highly recommended for all collections.?David A. Berona, Univ. of New England, Biddleford, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393046923
• ISBN 13: 9780393046922
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 305