In Kagoshima you can’t escape the enormous looming presence of Sakurajima, the craggy volcano which dominates Kinko Bay. It spews out black ash which hangs in the air above it; when the wind blows west it blows it over the city, when it blows east it blows it away from the city. There’s ash heaped … Read more
Back in Japan at last to research my next book – but what a time to be here! All the newspapers back home were writing of radiation risks, of water with radiation levels millions of times higher than they should be, and when I e mailed Tokyo friends one at least declared he was on … Read more
Forthcoming lectures: Monday April 11th 6.15pm Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, Yurakucho Denki North Building 20F Yurakucho 1-7-1, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0006, Japan tel +81-3-3211-3161 Illustrated talk: The Yoshiwara and the world of Japanese courtesans Watch this space!
Forthcoming lectures: Tuesday March 8th WORDS BY THE WATER, Keswick, Cumbria Japanese Culture Many people are fascinated with the ancient traditions of Japanese culture: geishas, courtesans, Samurai. These two writers, travellers and experts on this mysterious country, tell of their research and travel. with John Man 5.15pm, Studio, £7.50 tel. 01803 86 73 73 Visit … Read more
I have recently reviewed Burmese Lessons: A True Love Story by Karen Connelly in the New York Times. Karen Connelly’s passionate and poetic memoir begins with her arrival in Burma in 1996 at the age of 27. Brash, naïve and bubbling with confidence, she is enchanted by the country, but also determined to “catch at … Read more
I have just reviewed Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows in the New York Times. When I used to ask my mother about her family village in China, she always said it was three hours from Canton by bus. A hundred years ago, when my great-grandfather left China for good, that couldn’t have been far, … Read more
We step off the bus at Magome and look in disbelief at the steep cobbled slope winding up the hill in front of us. In the past there would have been scrawny porters elbowing each other out of the way, vying to cart our bags. Had we been great lords we would have been carried … Read more
Forthcoming lectures: Saturday June 26th 3.00 – 5.00 pm Ipswich Literary Tea, Ipswich Arts Festival, Arlington Brasserie, Ipswich, Suffolk Box Office 01473 433100 £8 (£6 concessions) Law and disorder: Making an impression throughout history. Discussion over tea and cakes with Giles Kristian, author of Sons of Thunder, and Paul Sussman, author of The Hidden Oasis. … Read more
The Last Concubine just came out in Thai. This is the beautiful cover. Big in Thailand!
Have just finished David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, which I reviewed for the Literary Review. Total fabulous (unsurprisingly), a firework of a book that sparks and crackles along. You’re totally gripped from the very first page! Something that other readers might not know is that it’s also based very firmly in … Read more