This book turned out quite differently than I expected. I'm not familiar with Mitchell's other output, but articles led me to expect capital-L Literature. The New York Times Book Review blurb on the back cover promised "an achingly romantic story of forbidden love." The book starts out with way, with the first 175 pages chronicling a Dutch clerk's first few days in the Japanese port of Dejima and his fleeting encounters with an enigmatic local woman, but the historical romance plot is sidelined pretty quickly. The book soon turns into an almost C.S. Forrester-style adventure story--you know, the "rollicking" type--with a despicable bad guy leading an evil cult right out of a Fu Manchu yarn. Betrayed expectations might lead some to put the book down, but if you can keep up with the sudden changes in tone, the book is consistently good throughout. I couldn't find many faults with the Japanese historical details (something that has been a frequent disappointment when reading English books set in Japan), and Mitchell's occasionally purple capital L Literary stylings are balanced out by an earthy sense of humor. Worth a read if you like historical fiction as a genre or have an interest in Japan.