Losing Kei is about an American woman who moves to Japan, has a child with a man in an increasingly troubled (and typically Japanese) marriage, and eventually loses the child when they divorce.

As with a lot of other novels by ex-pat writers, personal peeves about Japan abound. In fact, I suspect that's what drives people to write about Japan more than anything -- to vent at the wacky society we live in here. Can't say I blame them for doing it -- I'll probably join that party at some point before I leave Japan myself.

In the first half of the book, her pet peeves are mixed in with plenty of "Wow, isn't Japan strange" stereotypes. The review on the cover by a fellow writer says that "Suzanne Kamata deftly explores the contours" of the Japanese family. "Deftly"....hmmm...not the word I'd choose to describe her writing. I think the reviewer must be a friend of hers.

Having said that, while her treatment of all-things-Japanese is a bit in-your-face, it is quite accurate. And I would recommend this book to anybody who is thinking of coming to Japan so that they know in advance to leave their rose tinted glasses back in their home country.

In spite of the troubled start, I pressed on. Then, about 3/4 of the way into the book, the story suddenly starts to grab you. After pages and pages of reading about the pathetic whining of an ex-pat bar hostess, you suddenly see the heroine take control and power over her own life. And from the time she starts to plan how she will get her son back, I didn't put the book down. The ending was realistic and quite satisfying.

Although I wish Kamata had found her groove in this book earlier on, I'm glad I read it.