Hiroko Minagawa

The Resurrection Fireplace by Hiroko Minagawa, Translation by Matt Trayvaud

In 18th Century London, a group of anatomy students and their professor get caught up in murder, fraud, and confusion as deception piles on deception in this whirlwind mystery.

This is far and away one of the most intricate, convoluted plots I've read in recent years. There are lies within lies, plots within plots, and crimes both real and imagined. The villains are revealed, then changed, and finally, when all is made clear, the light comes on and you realize the clues were there all along... Or were they?

It's a trip, and one well worth taking.

This is the rare Japanese novel that doesn't revel in its Japanese-ness. It does a wonderful job of evoking the grime, corruption and class heirarchy of Georgian London without exoticizing it, although there are certain times with the exposition of cultural norms can feel heavy for people familiar with the setting (as most Japanese audiences definitely aren't).

The overall pace is smooth and fast, and the characters are well-drawn. The misery of the underclass is played out without pandering, as well. I quite enjoyed the irreverence of the anatomy students at their grisly work, but there are definitely sections that might turn off the squeamish. The violence is not gratuitous, but anatomists in 1700s London dealt in rotting flesh and death. It's not pretty.

I will say that the last section, where everything was tied together, felt a bit rushed and entirely over-complicated, but it seems to fit the overall tone of the story well. I was genuinely taken by surprise by one or two turns, but it was not confusing at all.

Let me say one thing about the translation: This was masterful. I am a professional translator of Japanese to English, and the mere thought of some of the challenges this book brought (the use of original Middle English poetry?! Translated from Japanese?! Holy moly...) makes me dizzy. The language is natural, and the characters have clear voices, and the translation never gets in your face as "translation." It's outstanding.… (més)

This is a fascinating piece: a mystery novel by a Japanese writer set in 18th century London. It comes to us in English translation for the first time, having won the 2012 Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize on its release in Japan. It is important to recognise the origins of the novel, for those who are familiar with the tradition of detective/mystery stories from Japan will recognise a lot in its style and pacing. Those familiar with the understated doggedness of detectives in the tradition of Matsumoto’s Inspector Imanishi or Higashino’s Detective Kaga, for example, will find comfort in the investigation run by Sir John Fielding, a blind magistrate who is ably assisted by his niece Anne Moore.

In the house of Daniel Barton, surgeon and anatomist, he and his group of students dissect human cadavers, brought to them by grave robbers, to pursue the advancement of human anatomical understanding. In a secret cellar, built behind the fireplace (hence the title) two bodies are discovered: one, a limbless torso of a young man, and the other, a mutilated body of a middle-aged man. Meanwhile, a young man named Nathan Cullen arrives in London with grand plans to be a famous writer, and bears with him a ‘discovered’ ancient poem he is hoping to sell. As we learn, there are two slightly different timelines in play here, and as they converge the story starts to develop. There are locked-room mysteries, suspects aplenty, and as the characters try to explore and solve the mystery of the bodies and how they came to be where they were found, and indeed who they are, some people know more about it that they are letting on…

This is not a fast-paced book, let’s be honest. There is a lot of dialogue, and this is where the heart of the book lies. It is about untangling the mystery, of logically unpicking the clues and obfuscation, to arrive at the truth. The narrative style is, at first, a little different from what we might expect; indeed, the narrator him/herself becomes a character with asides and comments on what is unfolding before us (for example, as Anne Moore introduces herself the narrator interjects: ‘It was ridiculous! How could a woman assist a magistrate?’). There is humour too, amidst the blood and gore of the dissection table; Daniel Barton is described as being ‘just past forty, with a countenance not unlike a potato’. There are plenty of twists and turns, and just as we think the case has been solved then another one comes along to pull the rug from under your feet.

I enjoyed this; as a fan of Japanese literature I felt quite comfortable in the strangely hybrid world conjured up by Minagawa. For some it might be a little unsettling, but for fans of the mystery novel I think this is definitely a must-read. The world of late 18th century London is brought to life, the characters are interesting in a two-dimensional way (the solving of the mystery is paramount), and those familiar with the story of Thomas Chatterton will take pleasure in recognising the parallels with Nathan Cullen’s story, which adds a whole new level to the book. For me, excellent stuff!
… (més)