Stephen Chan

The book is Stephen's journal. Stephen is a young Chinese man, attending college and working on a life of his own, when he is diagnosed with tuberculosis. World War II is already in the making when Stephen is sent to live at his family's summer home on the beach in Tarumi, Japan. It's there that Stephen learns about himself, finds new friends, and contemplates his future. Before the trip, Stephen is extremely ill. He describes the racking cough and weakness that puts him in bed most of the time. It's ultimately a fear that he'll infect others and the search for a place conducive to recuperation that prompts his family to send him to Tarumi. Stephen makes the trip without argument, though reluctantly. Stephen looks ahead to the months in Tarumi as an exile. He is met by Matsu, an elderly caretaker that Stephen remembers from the...