Uneasy Relations

Conflicts of language, custom, gender, generation and sexual convention animate this high-spirited tale of a middle-aged Englishwoman starting over in contemporary Tokyo. After divorcing an unfaithful husband, 50-year-old Sylvia Field leaves behind the unpleasant associations of her London home to begin a new career as a professor of English literature in an unnamed Tokyo university. A novelty in Japan--blonde, attractive, and single--Sylvia finds liberation as she fields the sexual advances of several Japanese men. Her relationship with Toshi, a 26-year-old banker, is mirrored by the gay May-December romance of fellow English professor Matthew with his young Japanese lover, Jun, and also by that of her son Mark with renowned British actor Colin Sibley, which causes complications in Sylva's life when the theatrical company visits Japan. These relationships, along with Sylvia's experiments in promiscuity, contrast with the prevailing mores of Japan's discreet traditionalist society. Haylock ( A Touch of the Orient ) brings wry wit and exuberance to this depiction of Tokyo's sex scene and the clash of Eastern and Western cultures. His crisp narrative moves quickly in brief, entertaining chapters. As in the work of Oscar Wilde--alluded to throughout this novel--a whimsical plot and colorful, opaque characters make for a swift and spicy read. (Dec.)