Set in Nagasaki around 1790 to 1810, the novel is very rich in period and Japanese detail, with complex and deeply described characters. Jacob de Zoet is an educated man who was raised in a parsonage to be faithful and truthful. He wishes to marry a girl in his native Holland, but her father insist he join the Dutch East India Company to make his fortune before he can marry. The Japanese of the Shogunate often referred to Japan as "the land of a thousand autumns". Each character has a story, told in the omniscient third person, so the reader knows their thoughts. The main plot is driven by the abduction of a young woman midwife, Orito Aibagawa, taken to a sinister monastery overseen by a powerful abbot. Jacob develops a longing for her when she is studying with the Dutch physician on Dejima, the walled island where the Europeans are confined while they carry on business. In somewhat of an aside from Jacob's story , interpreter Ogawa, who has also longed for the midwife, fails miserably in an attempt to rescue Orito and is killed by the abbot. The novel then describes the arrival of an English frigate with news of Bonaparte's conquest of Holland, and when the Japanese magistrate, advised by de Zoet, refuses to grant the English trading rights, the captain bombards Dejima. Jacobs obsession ends after a brief conversation with Orito following the death of the abbot, and the end of the novel briefly describes Jacob's return to Holland and later life. ( )

I get a bit suspicious of David Mitchell, because he's just so damn readable. This book is no exception, being interesting, well written and having lively, engaging characters. The plot does cross that line from fast-paced to unlikely a couple of times in the middle of the book, but other than that it is a flawless tale of adventure. I could never give it five stars, though, as it really is just a jolly good adventure and so is just a lot smaller in scope than something like Cloud Atlas. ( )

I've read two other works of David Mitchell's. Both were a collection of short stories grouped together to form a novel ,full of variety, and faced paced. This one on the other hand was a long work of historical fiction. And while I did appreciate the historical aspects of this work I found myself longing for the variety and fast pace of the David Mitchell I'd grown accustomed to. ( )

This guy hasn't let me down yet. Good story lines, good characters, believable historical details, ends well. ( )

A great read, but a bit disjointed. At times it feels like the author wants to push home how much research he did to prepare for the work. However, the setting of 19th-century Japan and its Dutch outpost allows for the making of a fantastic story, intertwining intrigue, a bit of romance, and historical fiction. Due to some of the subject matter, though, this book is not for the faint at heart. ( )