All in Fiction

Kerri Sakomoto’s “ONE HUNDRED MILLION HEARTS”

This novel tells the story of a young Canadian woman who, following the death of her Japanese father, returns to Japan to discover the secrets of their heritage. She finds her father had trained as a Kamikaze pilot during World War II but, to his shame, did not die a glorious death. After the war he returned to Canada where he raised his crippled daughter, never revealing his past.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte's “THE FENCING MASTER”

It is 1866 in Madrid. The old regime is toppling as unrest hits the hot summer streets. Aging Don Jaime Astarloa goes about his business, teaching the children of upwardly mobile parents the ancient art of Fencing. His students do not appreciate the rigor and nuance that Don Jaime insists upon. They treat him as the honor-bound anachronism that he admits to being. He is more interested in living up to an ascetic — and acerbic — personal code that demands honor, truth, and devotion to principle.