The Snow Kimono


The Snow Kimono is a 2014 novel by the Australian author Mark Henshaw originally published by Text Publishing.
It was the winner of the 2015 New [South Wales Premier's Literary Awards#Christina Stead Prize for Fiction|New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards], Christina Stead Prize for Fiction.

Synopsis

In Paris in 1989 August Jovert, a retired inspector of police, returns to his flat from hospital after a minor traffic accident. There he finds an old Japanese man waiting for him. That man is Tadashi Omura, former professor of law at the Imperial University of Japan, and both men, we discover, have lost daughters and deep family guilt in common. That guilt, and the lies the men have told themselves, finally catches up with them.

Critical reception

In The Guardian Nicole Lee discovered a lot of depth in the novel: "Like a Japanese puzzle, prized for their infinite solutions and depth of revelation, each chapter builds on the one before, unfolding through levels of story to unpack deeper and deeper truths. And as the novel clicks into place like the final move in a himitsu-bako, it's clear that The Snow Kimono is not simply a novel about mysteries but a metaphor for the nature of storytelling."
Writing in Australian Book Review Delia Falconer found herself "with a queasy sense of discomfort, and not, I sense, of the sort intended" when she finished the book.

Awards