The Electrical Field: A Novel

Memory and murder are the main ingredients of Kerri Sakamoto's debut, The Electrical Field. Set in a quiet suburb somewhere in Ontario, this understated novel mines the experiences of a small community of Japanese Canadians in the 1970s. The narrator, Asako Saito, is nisei, the Canadian-born daughter of Japanese immigrants. Middle-aged, unmarried, living at home with her ailing father and feckless younger brother, Asako spends her days watching the neighbors through her front window. Of particular interest to her is Sachi, a 14-year-old girl who lives down the street: "There she is, my Sachi, crossing the field as I'd seen her on a hundred other days when she'd been skipping school to run off with Tam. Already wise to life, wiser about its possibilities than I'd ever been." Sachi is the daughter Asako never had, though what seems at first like mere maternal interest gradually reveals a more disturbing aspect. The two are drawn into the mystery surrounding the murder of a neighbor and the disappearance of her husband and two children--one of whom is Sachi's boyfriend, Tam.

But murder is really just a backdrop for Sakamoto's portrait of Asako Saito, who turns out to be a most unreliable narrator. Moving back and forth between past and present, Asako's memories of a long-dead brother, life in the World War II internment camps, and her own relationship with the murdered woman's husband become increasingly interwoven, culminating in several haunting revelations and a surprisingly tender ending. Sakamoto handles her complicated tale with grace and assurance, making The Electrical Field a quietly compelling read. --Alix Wilber