The Changeling

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2011 MAN ASIAN LITERARY AWARD

Kogito is a writer, and is in his sixties when he rekindles a childhood friendship with his estranged brother-in-law Goro. Goro sends Kogito a number of cassette tapes onto which he has recorded reflections about their friendship. But one night, Goro's message takes a profoundly unsettling 'I'm going to head over to the Other Side now,' Goro says, and then Kogito hears a loud thud. After a moment of silence, Goro's voice 'But don't worry, I'm not going to stop communicating with you.' Moments later, Kogito's wife rings to tell him that Goro has jumped to his death from the roof of a building. Kogito begins a search to understand what drove his brother-in-law to suicide.

The Changeling takes readers from the forests of southern Japan to the streets of Berlin in a profound exploration of the ways in which the past - both real and imagined - affects our lives.