Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

I didn’t know when I started reading A Tale for the Time Being that I would like it.

Recommended to me by a dancer friend in my Nia community—someone I trust because she is smart, funny and kind—the book began slowly, but I warmed to it, became intrigued and then mesmerized and then had to let go in that slow, blinking “Oh, is it over?” way.

The plot concerns the intimate connection between two strangers when one person comes upon a diary, protected from the elements and washed up on a beach. The person who wrote the diary lives in Japan. The person who finds it lives in British Columbia. The diary’s reader becomes obsessed with the writer, who, it turns out, has her own obsession about just the right reader. The book could be considered literary, or perhaps speculative, or perhaps spiritual fiction. Thematically it’s about peace in a time of war, or calm in a world of rage, or staying alive vs. committing suicide. Also, crows. And wolves. And storms.

I haven’t come up with the sentences that might help someone else decide to read this book. But I can say that the best way to find a good book is to have good friends.

I can also confirm that the author is skilled and thoughtful. This unusual book may not be just right for you, but you will not doubt that Ruth Ozeki knows her craft.