The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is an engaging historical novel set in Japan on the cusp of the nineteenth century. Jacob de Zoet is a bright, upstanding Dutchman who signed up for a five-year stint with the Dutch East Indies Trading Company, hoping to gather a fortune sufficient to impress his wealthy fiancée Anna's father into giving her hand. He arrives in Dejima, the artificial island outside Nagasaki which is the sole trading post in Japan for two centuries, to find corruption, courtly intrigue, and Japan off-limits except through a guild of interpreters. Nonetheless, he becomes intrigued by Orito Aibagawa, a skilled, disfigured midwife who studies with the Dutch doctor in Dejima.

Here the story becomes interesting but convoluted and far-fetched. Orito is sent away to a shrine run by a mysterious order; an English warship tries to force the trading port to be open to them. These long interludes seem like diversions from Jacob's story, instead of a seamless execution of David Mitchell's intention to write a bicultural novel. Yet I think he did an excellent job bringing this historical moment to life. While I enjoyed the humor, wit, and the italicized thoughts of various characters, I found Mitchell's frequent use of criss-crossing phrases with ellipses slightly gratuitous. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this off-the-beaten-path romance and adventure long-listed for the 2010 Booker Prize.