A love story, an adventure, a study of corruption and a glimpse into a hidden world - David Mitchell’s novel is a historical fiction like no other.

For over 150 years, the island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbour has been the only point of contact between Japan and Europe. Foreign traders are forbidden to leave the island while the Japanese may not travel beyond their native country. Yet through the porthole of Dejima, the new learning of the Enlightenment seeps into the Shogun’s cloistered realm, while tales of a mysterious land seep out. In 1799, Jacob de Zoet arrives on Dejima. He has an unpleasant - perhaps dangerous - task to perform.
Longlisted
The Man Booker Prize 2010
Published by
Sceptre, Hodder
Publication date
David Mitchell

David Mitchell

About the Author

David Mitchell has written nine novels and adapted his work for screen and stage. He was born in 1969 on the Lancashire coast, but was raised in Malvern, Worcestershire
More about David Mitchell

Other nominated books by David Mitchell

The Bone Clocks
Black Swan Green
Cloud Atlas
number9dream