![]() ![]() He’s been hired to audit the company’s books and clean up rampant corruption, which is a difficult task because of just how widespread and universal bribery and skimming have become. Jacob de Zoet, a young, intelligent, and ethical clerk is a new arrival to Dejima. This island is the only place where the Dutch are allowed to be – access to the mainland is over a heavily guarded bridge, the Japanese language is off limits for foreigners, and all things associated with Christianity are forbidden for fear of proselytizing. The novel opens in 1799 on Dejima, a walled-in tiny island off the coast of Nagasaki. Mitchell combines several genres – thoroughly researched historical fiction, adventure thriller, and supernatural fantasy – in a novel that divided critics, but ended up long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. ![]() The novel follows the lives of a Dutch shipping clerk, newly arrived to the tiny manmade island that functions as a trading post, and a young midwife who is kidnapped by a sinister, magical cult. This work explores the relationship between the Dutch East Indies Company and Japan in the 18th century, a time when Japan was desperately trying to avoid becoming “contaminated” by outside influence. Acclaimed British novelist David Mitchell published The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet in 2010. ![]()
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