Rare kind of intimacy

The Buddha in the Attic

It has already met with effusive acclaim and grabbed a slew of major international awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Prix Femina Etranger. Now in paperback, it is set to enjoy significant bestseller status.

This short but powerful novel really is a peculiar pleasure. The story is an old one, though never less than captivating: between the First and Second World Wars, a boatload of Japanese women are brought to America. They are picture brides, individually unimportant, bought and paid for by their husbands-to-be, fellow countrymen long since exiled and known only by photograph and letter. Men who, it transpires, have greatly exaggerated their means and who stand on the docks as much 20 years removed from their snapshots.