At forty, Rose travels to Kyoto after a lawyer summons her to hear her estranged father's will. Guided by Paul, her father's assistant, she follows an itinerary through Zen gardens, pottery workshops and neighborhood encounters that reveal parts of a life she never knew.

Conversations with her father's friends and the contemplative spaces he chose help ease long-held bitterness. As the reading draws near, fragments of his life and posthumous messages give Rose fresh perspective and a path toward acceptance and renewed connection.

Short, elegiac and quietly observed, the novel uses Kyoto's landscapes to explore family, memory and identity. It will appeal to readers of contemplative contemporary fiction who favour character-driven stories about reconciliation and cultural encounter.

• Setting: Kyoto, Japan
• Themes: family estrangement, identity, grief, reconnection
• Details: Europa Editions; Hardcover; 148 pages (2021)

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