The Heron Catchers

The following review will be posted near publication date in Japonica magazine: https://medium.com/japonica-publication
Will post to Amazon and Goodreads once the Japonica review is published.

Like Kanazawa, David Joiner's previous award-winning novel, The Heron Catchers is set in Ishikawa Prefecture, mostly in the town of Yamanaka Onsen where he once lived. The novel is scheduled for released on November 21 from Stone Bridge Press. 

The novel begins in the famed Kenrokuen garden in Kanazawa, one of the three greatest gardens of Japan. Sedge, a Japanese-speaking American, is meeting Mariko, the wife of the man his own wife has run away with. 
But while waiting, a heron attacked by a boar, breaking its wing. A bird watcher himself, Sedge comes to the bird's aid just as Mariko arrives. It turns out she has her own scars from rescuing herons. 
Everyone in this novel, it turns out, is deeply scarred and not just from being attacked by birds. Although it's been months since his wife, Nozomi, has run off with Mariko's husband, Sedge has barely started to recover from the loss. 

Not only did she abandon him, but she emptied their bank accounts, leaving Sedge with little to live on. They'd run a shop together selling local Kutani ware pottery, but without her, the shop has closed. Without any way to contact her, or any idea where she went, he can't even initiate divorce proceedings and move on with his life.
Soon Sedge leaves Kanazawa for the small hot springs town of Yamanaka Onsen where his brother-in-law runs a ryokan. Taking pity on him for his wife taking all his money, he invites Sedge to stay at the ryokan until he gets back on his feet again in return for teaching English to the staff.

It turns out Mariko works at the ryokan, too, but instead of taking classes with the rest of the staff, she invites him to her home where she's left taking care of Riku, her emotionally scarred 16-year old stepson.
Sedge and Mariko gradually develop a tenuous relationship, unsure what will happen if and when their spouses return. Mariko's stepson feels threatened by the sudden presence of Sedge in their home, with the possibility of a violent outburst always a threat whenever they're together. Though they don't have much else in common beyond deep scars of betrayal, all three share a love of herons. 

How Sedge, Mariko, and Riku navigate this complex relationship that's in constant danger of collapse is the heart of this entrancing novel. The characters feel real, and though we grief with them, the story is never maudlin. 

One of the few novels in English set in rural Japan, we get to see life in Ishikawa, a world away from Tokyo and Kyoto. An American there, even one who speaks Japanese, stands out, eyes constantly following him. 

There the humans and herons go about their own lives that when they collide, leave scars on both sides. But with loving care, broken wings heal as do broken hearts, and both can learn to fly again.