I found the plot incredible in its simplicity and directness. I also fell for Mr. Tsuneo Asai, not just because he's the main character, mostly for his burocratic habits and mannerisms.
But what I liked above all was the description of a particular section of Japanese society, tinged as it was with that rètro flavor given by the almost fifty years' distance since the writing of the book.
I'd definitely recommend it!
I liked the slow drawing in of my interest and attention until I just had to finish it!
I liked the sisters, each different in their individual ways yet alike in their reverence of their family name and of withering customs, trying to protect both to the point of being ridiculous.
I liked the historical setting, the subtle blend between the private lives and the public tragedies destroying the world around them.
What I didn't like, or rather couldn't understand, was the abrupt ending. After having come so far, it was a huge letdown. But I'm guessing somethin must have happened with the author to make him desist from writing about this particular subject. And it's a real shame 🙁
There is just a bit too much of other authors' styles for me to really appreciate this book.
The way the plot unfolds is too much like Liane Moriarty of Big Little Lies.
Marty and Ben emulate Charles and Sebastian of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. But it's not just the relationship. Mrs. Day tries to infuse her novel with the same atmosphere, the same mannerisms permeating Mr. Waugh's masterpiece, succeeding only in blurring the line between the modern times when her story takes place and the '30s of Brideshead Revisited. And I didn't like that because it didn't seem likely that this obsession that Martin feels for Ben could be justified in our day and age.
In other words, what worked beautifully in the '30s for Charles and Sebastian makes no sense in today's world of Martin and Ben, not even if motivated by sexual orientations.
And since that's at the heart of the book, I further disliked this book and all its negative implications about obsessions and compulsions driven by misplaced love and sexual attractions.