Confessions

Kanae Minato

Translated from its original Japanese, this novel is delivered as a series of 1st person accounts surrounding a local tragedy. We open with a middle school homeroom teacher talking to her students on the last day before summer break, giving her "end of year speech". This monologue sets the story (she is leaving the school and it has everything to do with the fact that her 5 year old daughter recently died) and it sets the stage for a mystery thriller. Since we are hearing the perspective of the teacher, there are clearly point of view issues that the reader can intuit. Gaps in her knowledge, conjectures that we wonder if they are correct, etc. Minato expertly fills in those gaps, slowly unpeeling the layers of this story, not by retelling the same event from several perspectives, but by allowing the story to progress in time (or even to flash back) from other perspectives. It all seems natural and is well connected. I love the story telling mechanism simply because it is so well done. And the story itself is fascinating, as watching a slow motion train wreck is fascinating. All this while exploring the depth of the characters neurosis (what do you expect from middle school kids) and asking deep questions about morality, love, and life purpose. Well done.
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