The Sound of Waves
Vintage International · first published 1954 · 192 pages
On a small fishing island, a poor young fisherman falls for the daughter of the island's richest man.
Simple, sunlit, and clean in its lines, it reads like an old tale told beside the sea.
For a night by an open window.
About this book
Shinji, a poor young fisherman, lives with his widowed mother and younger brother on a small island off the Japanese coast. When Hatsue, the daughter of a wealthy shipowner, comes back to live on the island, the two are drawn to each other. Gossip, a jealous rival, and her father's disapproval stand in their way. The book is quiet about feelings and generous with weather, work, and water, and what stays is the clean salt air of the island.