by Masatsugu Ono
translated by Angus Turvill
Published: 2018
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Genre: Coming of Age, Ghosts, Japan
Hardback: 128
Rating: 5
Goodreads
First sentence(s):
I hated it. Detested it. I just wanted to get away as soon as I could.
When 10-year-old Takeru arrives at his mother's home village in the middle of a scorching summer, he's all alone and in possession of terrible memories. Unspeakable things have happened to his mother and his mentally disabled 12-year-old brother. As Takeru gets to know Mitsuko, his new caretaker, and Saki, his spunky neighbor, he meets more of his mother's old friends, discovering her history and confronting the terrible acts that have left him alone. All the while he begins to see a strange figure that calls himself Bunji—the same name of a delicate young boy who mysteriously vanished one day on the village's coastline at Lion's Cross Point.
At once the moving tale of a young boy forced to confront demons well beyond his age, a sensitive portrayal of a child's point of view, and a spooky Japanese ghost story, Lion's Cross Point is gripping and poignant. Acts of heartless brutality mix with surprising moments of pure kindness, creating this utterly truthful tale of an unforgettable young boy.
My two-bits:
Beautiful melancholy passages.
Loved the writing with its parallels, repetitions and moments of kindness.
* Filipino character mentioned
* weekly theme: Japan
