cover image Under the Sun

Under the Sun

Justin Kerr-Smiley. Arcadia (Dufour, dist.), $24.95 trade paper (248p) ISBN 978-1-908129-49-9

This accomplished literary war novel, Scottish journalist Kerr-Smiley’s debut, is set in the South Pacific’s Caroline Islands during the waning months of WWII. A Japanese submarine shoots down a Spitfire piloted by Edward Strickland, a young but decorated RAF flight lieutenant, while he’s on a routine patrol. Capt. Tadashi Hayama, the commander of a nearby island listening post, observes Strickland’s forced landing and rescues him from the shark-infested Pacific. Strickland is brutally interrogated by Hayama and the captain’s underlings, but refuses to talk. A failed escape attempt marks him for death, but then Hayama makes an unexpected decision that paves the way for captor and captive to become close friends on the tropical island. Hayama, a descendant of samurai warriors, has a creative bent that extends to playing the violin, collecting butterflies, and reading the poet Basho. It’s just a matter of time, however, before the outside conflict touches the island again. The protagonists’ friendship may initially strain credibility, but Kerr-Smiley’s passionate tale should convince readers that remarkable, as well as horrific, things can happen in the midst of war. (Nov.)