The Heron Catchers

(Paperback)

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Description

After Nozomi abandons Sedge and their marriage, taking all their money and leaving him with a ceramics shop he cant manage alone, her brother and his wife offer him a lifeline at their Japanese hot spring inn until he can get back on his feet. As he proceeds forward from this devastation in his life, he becomes involved with the wife of the man Nozomi ran off with as well as her stepson, a troubled 16-year-old whose jealousy and potential for violence contrasts with his interest in birds, origami, and the haiku of Matsuo Basho. What unfolds in the shadow of the immortal mountain of cranes will change their lives forever.

Set in Kanazawa and Yamanaka Onsen near the Sea of Japan, The Heron Catchers explores the importance of recognizing suffering both in others and in oneself, of being compassionate, and of trusting those who offer love in the shattering wake of loss.

The Heron Catchers is the second in a series of novels set in and around the Japanese city of Kanazawa.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR DAVID JOINER'S KANAZAWA

"Kanazawa is both a sensitive portrayal of the struggles of an international marriage and a paean to the city in which it is set."The Japan Times

"With its deliberate, expressive descriptions of the city and the mountains that surround it, Kanazawa is a character driven novel that illustrates the importance of communication and compromise."--Dontan McPherson-Joseph, Foreword Reviews

"He engages readers senses as a way of introducing his beautiful surroundings, describing sedate machiya homes, carafes of hot sake, aromas of temple incense, the prick of a snail shell on a lip. By keeping his sentences and structure simple, Joiner allows his decidedly Western prose to reflect a sense of Asian place without making Asia seem 'exotic.'--Lit Hub

"Reflective and atmospheric, Kanazawa is a story for sitting with. The drama and conflict are experienced not as grand explosions of intense emotion but as a quiet gnawing from within that is far less easy to escape. Joiners patient attention to the interiority of his characters and a strong sense of place create a moving portrayal of the messiness of relationships and the ways that all the things we hope to bury in the past stay with us."--Reid Bartholomew, World Literature Today

"Filled with lush greenery, formidable mountains, historic castles, and a vibrant local community... Kanazawa casts a shimmering layer of magical novelty around the countryside that has too long been reserved for prominent cities ever since Japans industrialization in the early 20th century."

--Ella Kelleher, Asia Media International

"A graceful novel of a graceful city. David Joiners Kanazawa interweaves four love affairs, echoing the fantastical writings of the early 20th century writer Izumi Kyoka. At the storys heart lies the enigmatic bond between Emmitts wifes parents, with a secret only revealed in the novels dramatic climax. The other three love affairs, with their own enigmas, are Emmitts own - for his wife Mirai, for his adoptive city of Kanazawa, and for his muse Kyoka."--Alex Kerr, author of Lost Japan and Finding the Heart Sutra

"An intriguing story of a Japanese family worthy of the best of Japanese literature.--Roger Pulvers, author of Liv

"Kanazawa drips with a sense of place, the setting much more than just a back drop to the action; Joiner shows that there are plenty of stories taking place outside the vortex of Tokyo. Tense, moving, and subtly gripping, Kanazawa is a welcome addition to the books-about-Japan shelf."--Iain Maloney, author of The Only Gaijin in the Village

"The novel is poignant, elegant and meditative, with a cathartic climax, a dramatic payoff after a steady buildup. This is achieved fantastically, without a single dull moment. The straightforward language, the rich atmosphere, the natural flow of the characters thoughts, words, and movements all drive the story forward organically. Joiner has achieved an incredible feat in making a story whose lifeforce is art seem so effortless and devoid of artifice."--My Murmuring Bones

Author Bio

David Joiner made his first trip to Japan in 1991a five-month study program in Hokkaidoand three years later moved for the first of seven times to Vietnam. In Japan, where he has also moved numerous times, he has called Sapporo, Akita, Fukui, Tokyo, and most recently the western Japanese city of Kanazawa home.

David Joiner's writing has appeared in literary journals and elsewhere, includingEchoes: Writers in Kyoto 2017,The Brooklyn Rail,Phoebe Journal,The Ontario Review, andThe Madison Review.His first novel,Lotusland, set in contemporary Vietnam, was published in 2015 by Guernica Editions. His second novel,Kanazawa, was published by Stone Bridge Press in 2022 and was named as a Foreword Reviews Indie Finalist for multicultural novels.