On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary.But he meets four local residents-a beautiful Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Young Stephen has his own adventure, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you forever.Gail Tsukiyama has, with lines as clean, simple, telling and dazzling as the best Oriental art, created a small, moving masterpiece.