A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

From the Paperback:
   The highly acclaimed first novel by the author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, A Pale View of Hills is the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living along in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her eldest daughter. In a story where the past and present confuse in a haunting and sometimes macabre way, she relives the scenes of Japan's devastation in the wake of World War II, even as she recounts the weirdness and calamities of her own life.

"Memory, I realize, can be an unreliable thing; often it is heavily coloured by the circumstances in which one remembers, and no doubt this applies to certain of the     recollections I have gathered here."

   Past and present twist together seamlessly in this book. Etsuko's youngest daughter is visiting after the suicide of her older daughter. The suicide brings back memories of an earlier time in Etsuko's life. She reminisces about her friend Sachiko and her daughter Mariko. The tale has an eerie feel to it, like something is just out of reach. I felt this the whole time I was reading about the past.
   This book was written with precision, the tone is almost formal. It was a little strange. I wouldn't recommend this book to the casual reader. If you like a book that piques your curiosity that isn't necessarily a simple read, this book could be for you.