the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet by david mitchell

He cleverly outwits some cheating clerks, catches a Japanese interpreter mistranslating on purpose to steal, and makes friends with the honest and amusingly cranky Dr. 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.

The thousand autumns of jacob de zoet by david mitchell