The thousand autumns of Jacob de Zoet

This work explores the relationship between the Dutch East Indies Company and Japan in the 18th century, a time when Japan was desperately trying to avoid becoming “contaminated” by outside influence. The novel follows the lives of a Dutch shipping clerk Jacob de Zoet, newly arrived to the tiny manmade island and influential port Dejima that functions as a trading post, and a young midwife who is kidnapped by a sinister, magical cult.