The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Set in the dying days of the eighteenth century, David Mitchell's 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet' transports readers to Dejima, a tiny, man-made island in Nagasaki Bay – for two centuries the sole conduit between isolationist Japan and the encroaching West. Here, a young, earnest Dutch clerk named Jacob de Zoet arrives with the ambition of making his fortune, but soon finds himself entangled in a complex web of cultural misunderstandings, political intrigue, and forbidden passion. Amidst scheming traders, ruthless officials, cunning interpreters, and the captivating Dr. Aritomo, Jacob falls deeply for a mysterious midwife, Orito. His journey forces him to confront his own integrity and principles against a backdrop of corruption, power struggles, and the profound clash of two vastly different civilizations, where control over minds, riches, and even life itself is fiercely contested.