The Electrical Field

A rare and powerful novel about memory and murder, and the unusual friendship that develops between an ageing Japanese-Canadian woman and a young girl desperate to uncover the truth.

When the beautiful Chisako and her lover are found murdered in a park, members of the small Ontario community must finally acknowledge certain inescapable truths about each other. The Electrical Field slowly exposes all those implicated in the murders – particularly Miss Saito, the novel’s unreliable narrator, through whom we gradually discover the truth. Asako Saito, middle-aged, caring for her elderly, bedridden father and her distracted younger brother, seems to be a passive observer. But as the facts become known, and events are cast in different light, Miss Saito turns out to be central to the crime. To understand her connection to the murders, she must first confront her past and her craving for an emotional connection that has profound consequences. Set in the 1970s, The Electrical Field reaches deep into the past, and into Canada’s communal response to war. Kerri Sakamoto gives us a masterful, elegant story of passion, memory and regret, and beautifully illuminates the life of an ordinary woman.

The Electrical Field is sure to be among the most discussed books of the season. This haunting and unsettling novel reads like the best thrillers and introduces a gifted Canadian writer.