In Sarah Sheard's celebrated novel Almost Japanese, a young girl's obsession with a famous Japanese musician blossoms into personal transformation. In spare, lyrical prose, Sheard documents Emma's discovery of her new next door neighbour, a dazzling Japanese symphony conductor. Things Japanese soon begin to transform Emma's world. Several years later, she must journey to Japan on a private pilgrimage to connect to the source of her obsession.
Sarah Sheard is the author of two other critically acclaimed novels, The Swing Era, and the national bestseller The Hypnotist . Sarah won the 45 Below Award for her fiction, and a National Magazine Award for her essay on the Coach House Press. She lives in Toronto, where she mentors writers at Humber College and Ryerson Polytechnic University, and maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist and mediator.
'Intensely felt, the anguish is of the same order as that in By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.' —Globe and Mail