Dec 20, 2009

After Dark | Summary

The novel opens just before midnight in a Denny’s restaurant in downtown Tokyo. There, Mari Esai sits at the front window by herself, reading a textbook; she intends to wait out the night before taking the train back home. A lanky, amateur jazz trombonist named Takahashi soon enters the restaurant, passing Mari for a few steps until he remembers her face: two years earlier, they met; Takahashi knows her older sister, Eri. Mari consents to him sitting down with her but remains annoyed at his presence during their initial conversation. In discussing their previous encounter, the reader...