The Emissary
New Directions · first published 2014 · 128 pages
In a sealed-off future Japan, a great-grandfather over a hundred years old cares for his frail great-grandson.
Playful wordplay and gentle humor sit beside quiet worry, and the short book is full of strange, tender detail.
For a night with a child asleep nearby.
About this book
After an unnamed disaster, Japan has closed itself off from the world, and the very old seem unable to die while children are born weak. Yoshiro, past one hundred, spends his days finding food and comfort for Mumei, his great-grandson, who can barely chew or walk but stays cheerful and curious. Foreign words have fallen out of use, and the language bends in odd, funny ways. What stays is a tender picture of care in a damaged world.