Factory worker Heisuke returns from work to learn that the bus that his wife and daughter were on has crashed and they are both in intensive care. His wife Naoko is fading fast, and daughter Monami is in a coma. As Naoko passes away in front of him, Monami begins to stir.

"Darling, here. I'm here".

With that simple sentence, Higashino takes what was shaping up as a fairly ordinary drama, and gives it a huge twist. Heisuke realises that Naoko has somehow taken over Monami's body, and that it is Monami who has effectively died, not his wife.

Similar situations have been played for laughs in many Hollywood films, but Higashino tells a serious and wrenching tale here. How does a man keep a marriage alive and stay faithful to a wife whom the world perceives is his daughter? How do the two of them navigate the emotional and ethical minefield that this situation presents, not to mention the social expectations of them? How can Heisuke deal with his loneliness as he watches his wife regress back into her childhood and start her life over again, with him on the periphery?

This novel, while not crime fiction, is every bit as complicated and rewarding as you'd expect from this master of Japanese noir, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the most avid mystery fan intrigued. ( )

Trauma and shock generate the interwoven plot of Naoko. As you read, it's all too obvious that Higashino is using the metaphor of PTSD, rationally explained by Monami/Naoko at the end, to unlock not only his central characters' states of mind but that of Japanese society collectively. It's a mesmerizing story whose only possible "flaw" would have been for the author to fail in its conclusion, providing a sappy, sentimental ending. Higashino avoids that with a mild twist that also puts the reader and the main protagonist, Heisuke, into a loop of disturbed consciousness.

The story the reader concentrates upon, of course, is that of Heisuke and Monami/Naoko. A bus trip to a ski lodge is ruptured with a horrific accident resulting in the deaths of scores of people, including Naoko. This rupture is between life and death but also is a rupture in the self identity and self conscious narratives of the two "survivors," Heisuke and Monami. Just as a soldier inhibited by "shell shock," "combat fatigue," or PTSD, for Heisuke and Monami, the problem of the novel is how to re-integrate their personalities back into their pre-accident, established self narratives.

All this serves as a metaphor for Japanese society collectively. For upon looking a little deeper, you find traumatic disruption occurring at every level in Naoko. Most tellingly of all is the trauma to the families of the instrument of the initial disruptor, Kajikawa. Their shock parallels and echoes that of Heisuke and Monami. As does the trauma inflicted upon the other survivors of the bus accident. Even beyond these, however, are similar displacements and changes occurring among the workers and organization of Heisuke's employer. Hence the friction between tradition and modernity, stasis and change that, in effect, symbolically reaches back to 1853-54 and 1945.

That's the "mystery" of Naoko, not merely a pedestrian study of "gender." Sometimes, even authors become vehicles of trauma and change about which they are unaware. Here, too? Not.

Note on the Translation: Kerim Yasar's translation is superb. Most of Higashino's works have been translated into English by Alexander O. Smith and many of them have a leaden, assembly line feel. Not Yasar's Naoko, which enjoys a verbal dexterity seemingly beyond the reach of Smith. ( )

I am making my husband read this immediately because I HAVE to talk to someone about it. ( )

This is a remarkable book. Fascinating premise well developed. Strong sympathetic characters. Very thought provoking. Great book for a group discussion. I enjoyed the insight into a Japanese way of looking at things. Beautiful ending. I have really liked everything I have read by this author. I hope the translations keep coming. An added note. I read this some years ago and it still haunts me. I work at a library and recommend this often. ( )

http://acupofcoffeeandagoodbook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/naoko-novel-by-keigo-higa... ( )