num_pages: 237
description: In 1948, a nineteen-year-old pearl diver's dreams of spending her life combing the waters of Japan’s Inland Sea are shattered when she discovers she has leprosy. By law, she is exiled to an island leprosarium, where she is stripped of her dignity and instructed to forget her past. Her name is erased from her family records, and she is forced to select a new one. To the two thousand patients on the island of Nagashima, she becomes Miss Fuji.Although drugs arrest the course of Miss Fuji's disease, she cannot leave the colony. Instead, she becomes a caretaker to the other patients, and through the example of their courage, she gains insight into the deep wellspring of strength she will need to reclaim her freedom. Written with precision and eloquence, The Pearl Diver is a dazzling meditation on isolation and community, cruelty and compassion.
language: English
title: The Pearl Diver
titlecomplete: The Pearl Diver
genres: Asian Literature, Historical, Japan, Asia, Novels, Japanese Literature, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Womens
ratings_count: 1711
awards: awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Rosenthal Family Foundation Award
publisher: Anchor