Aose is an architect with a failed marriage and a vision of his dream house. When he discovers the house he built is empty he is consumed by the reason why. On the search for answers he discovers a lot more than he expected.
I felt there were a few messages in this book eg what is important in life such as friendship and family. It was also interesting to learn a little about architecture.
My attention wandered around the halfway mark but I always wanted to know why the house Aose created was empty.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

An architect obsesses about the award-winning house he designed. When he finds out the house is empty, he has to find out why, and he can't let go of the situation. It's very slow and reflective, but beautifully written, and I could not put this down.

The North Light was a really interesting read. I actually thought it was going to be a little more of a murder mystery based on what I read about it but it was actually far more reflective.

The story follows architect, Minoru Aose who is dismayed to discover that the best house he ever designed is now sitting empty - apart from a chair. He then endeavours to find out what happened. This tantalising quality - and subsequent references to architecture were really fascinating. I don't know much about architecture, so the detail here was educational for me too.

Translated from Japanese, the pace is slow but engaging and it has such a lyrical quality that once you get hooked, it was a joy to read. Really enjoyed it!

As someone who has read other books by Yokoyama I was greatly looking forward to The North Light and was not disappointed. It's very in keeping with Six Four and Seventeen to me, in terms of how the story slowly but eloquently unfolds.

The book is about a divorced architect who designs his ideal house for clients who disappear without a trace, never moving into the property the architect feels he has poured heart and soul into, and leads to him having to search for them - the narrative is very reflective of the architect's life story, his relationships and those in his life he deems important, and how this lead him to the path of architect.

Many thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was a bit fooled into thinking this was a crime novel, and even though there is someone missing and Aose is searching for him, this is rather a character driven novel about architecture, inspiration and personal growth. The beginning is a bit slow, but once I got into it, I was hooked. I always like it when a book makes me curious enough to look things up. 'The North Light' awakened my interest in architecture in general and Bruno Taut in particular.
A great read!
Thank you riverrun and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

'Please build a home you would want to live in.'

'Six Four' was a masterpiece of careful plotting, character study and literary skill. I came to this with high expectations, and was not disappointed. It is the story of architect Minoru Aose, who was down on his luck and employed by the Yoshino family to build a dream home. Months after completing the house and it garnering praise from the architectural community, Aose is stunned to find that the house is empty, the family has effectively disappeared, and the only only piece of furniture in the house is a chair in the style of German architect Bruno Taut, which has been placed facing out of the window to capture the special 'north light' of the area.

What follows is a slow and fascinating uncovering of the facts, as Aose and a reporter acquaintance research the family and what has happened. As the facts become clear, it seems that there is a much deeper personal connection between the architect and the original commission to build the house.

This is a book that rewards the reader's patience. It develops slowly, and as the layers are revealed it owes much to the relationship between art and nature, and the cultural nuances of a fascinating German-Japanese connection.

If I had one tiny criticism it is that it is all a little neatly tied up. The book, for me, deserved a little mystery left at the end. But that doesn't take away the fact that this is a genuinely classy book, from a writer in his prime, and it gets a great translation by Louise Heal Kawai that does the book's style justice. A must-read for fans of quality Japanese fiction.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

A thoroughly enjoyable read
Minoru Aose an architect designed the Yoshino house, a prizewinning and much discussed private residence built in the shadow of Mount Asama. He is shocked to learn that the Yoshino House is empty apart from a single chair, stood facing the north light of nearby Mount Asama. It is possibly a special chair designed by Bruno Taut – the real-life German architect who spent two years living and working in Japan in the 1930s, after his politics led him to flee Nazi Germany.
The story follows Aose trying to track down the family that briefed him to build the house. It follows his growing awareness of Bruno Haut and his impact on Japanese architects. We witness his relationship with his daughter and his divorced wife together with his his interactions with work colleagues. The story builds and the intrique grows thrugh this beautifully written book

The North Light is a quiet and calm book about an architect who designs his ideal house for some clients who then disappear without a trace. The rest of the story is about the architect's life, his search for the missing clients and his relationships with the important people in his life.

I enjoyed it very much. The mystery plot at the heart of the book wasn't very mysterious, but the characterisation made up for that. A recommended read for lovers of Japanese fiction.

A stunningly gorgeous book! I know nothing about architecture but that didn't put me off at all. This is a beautifully written novel with a compelling central character. Full of lovely writing. Loved it!

Perfect for readers of 'literary fiction' This book is beautifully written and well translated. It is a tale of obsession with a bit of mystery. The book is the tale of an architect, and you are very quickly hooked into the story with one simple sentence "it looked as if no one was living there" Once hooked the book is quite a compelling read because like the architect, Minoru Aose, you too want to find why no one is living in the house that is his greatest achievement.

I have never read a novel that centred so much around architecture before, and I love that this one did! The main character is Aose, an architect who has lost his way a little bit - divorced, lonely, and purposeless after he lost his job and his confidence as an architect in the economic crash. But a mysterious reversal in fortunes has occurred - a client asked Aose to build him ‘a house he would want to live in’. This simple brief opened up a doorway in Aose’s soul and allowed him to fall back in love with architecture. Which is why he is so distraught when he finds out that the clients did not move into the house after he handed over the keys. Didn’t they like this building he poured so much of his own soul into? The clients seem to have vanished and with it a mystery opens up that leads Aose further into an exploration of meaning in his life and his love of architecture. I thought for most of this book that I knew exactly where it was going but it did surprise me partially, and it had a really nice resolution. An author I would read more from!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t expect to be quite so captivated by a psychological mystery that revolves around architecture but I couldn’t put this down. Hideo Yokoyama’s novel’s told from the perspective of Aose a world-weary, middle-aged architect whose career and family fell apart when Japan’s bubble economy burst. Aose now works for an old college friend, introspective and insecure, he’s essentially adrift. His relationship with his teenage daughter Hinako is fragile and Aose’s unable to establish any real intimacy or deeper connection with the people around him. His only point of pride is the Y-house a recent project that allowed him to design the building of his dreams. But then he finds the Yoshino family he built it for has inexplicably vanished, even harder to fathom the Y-house shows no signs of ever having been lived in. The only remnant of his clients’ presence is a single chair placed close to a window that opens onto a glorious view of the sky. But this is no ordinary chair, it was designed by Bruno Taut – the real-life German architect who spent two years living and working in Japan in the 1930s, after his politics led him to flee Nazi Germany.

The finely-wrought but slender plot hinges on Aose’s search for the Yoshinos but this isn’t in any way a conventional crime novel. Instead, it’s a character-led narrative, through which Yokoyama explores broader questions about existence, identity, and Japanese culture both past and present. Aose’s growing fascination with the life and work of Bruno Taut opens up a fascinating discussion of modernism in Japan, Japanese aesthetics and the nature of beauty. One that forces Aose to think about his own creative priorities and values. Aose’s quest also stirs up memories about his rootless childhood, his fractured family, his shattered friendships; all the experiences and relationships that underpin his shaky sense of self. Through his investigations Aose begins to confront feelings and events long-buried, and reconsider his ideas about life and how to live it. It’s a leisurely, meditative piece, filled with beautifully-rendered images of Japan, its sounds, its landscapes, the play of light through houses and apartments. In the concluding episodes Yokoyama briefly ramps up the tension via a sub-plot about bribery and corruption but this too loops back to earlier issues about personal legacies and heritage. Elegiac yet optimistic, atmospheric, and fluid, I really relished this. Translated by Louise Heal Kawai.

The North Light is fantastic. I was already a fan of Hideo Yokoyama's work because I love crime and mystery novels. The North Light is different in that the story is driven by an architect who wants to find out why his best and most personal building, a house, has been abandoned by its occupants. This set up is the perfect way to launch into a wide-ranging search through Japan. I've always found novels about art and music fascinating and now I'd add architecture to this list. I don't want to go to much more into the plot - I think it's best to let this story unspool on its own. I should also add that aside from being compelling to read, Hideo Yokoyama also writes beautifully and compellingly about landscape, design, and nature in The North Light. A must read for fans of Hideo Yokoyama, and for fans of fiction - either traditional literary fiction or crime/mystery - and those interested in architecture.

Another intriguing story by Hideo Yokoyama but not the "edge of your seat" mystery that I'm used to from this author. It was very difficult for me to get into the swing of it.

There are lots of reviews talking about the content of the novel so I'm going to talk about how it differs from the authors other translated works as the whole reason I picked this up was the author's name on the cover.

All of the Yokoyama's strengths are on full display here. The characters, especially our hero, Aose, have fully developed and flawed personalities informed by their histories. There is real depth to the central profession of the book, architecture, that pervades and informs every part of the story without ever talking down to the reader. And finally there is a mystery central to the story that resolves itself in the most interesting ways.

Where the story differs from other translated works is in its pacing. "The North Light" is driven by a mystery and a house but it's not a page turner and the mystery is not what kept me up at night. The best part about "The North Light" for me was the scrutiny and subsequent growth that the Aose undergoes as the novel progresses.

If you're looking for a thriller in the vein of Yokoyama's other mystery novels you will be disappointed with this latest offering. But if you have time for brilliant writing and a slow but intriguing plot you've come to the right place.

This is an interesting and atmospheric novel, delving into what are the notions of home, belonging, family - and of course architecture.

Truth be told, I didn't know what this book was about before I selected it on Netgalley. I just knew that it was a Japanese contemporary novel and that was it. It might have been a mystery (the disappearance of a whole family, a gorgeous brand new house remaining empty) but it wasn't really ; a novel about architecture (it deals a lot with it and it made me curious about things I wasn't curious about before, I learned about Bruno Taut and went net-hunting for information) yet it wasn't just that ; a book about the sense of belonging and what it represents, an exploration of a family's history. I felt this particular link that you find a lot in East Asia, how someone crosses someone's else path once and they will meet again somehow. It has a name, I forgot which one.

Maybe it wasn't my best read of the year, yet it will be one I will remember. The atmosphere, the dreamlike references about north light, traditional Japanese architecture vs modern practical architecture, the themes evoked : it was all very unusual and interesting, it's like this novel is in its own bubble. The pace is rather slow, but it adds to the dreamlike quality I mentioned before. It's nothing like I've read before and I will keep it in a corner of my memory.

When you find a writer whose prose is as good as Hideo Yokoyama’s, you want to read everything they have written. I was hooked on this author from the moment I read Six Four and Seventeen.

The North Light is a beautifully expressed story about an architect confronted by a mystery. In following this mystery and trying to solve the puzzle, he makes his own journey of discovery.

Hideo Yokoyama is always interested in what motivates people and how they come to understand themselves, as well as having an interest in the petty machinations of people in power and authority and how they might abuse that authority.

Minoru Aose is an architect and a divorcee with a daughter, Hidako who lives with her mother. Aose’s relationship with his daughter is pretty stilted, so he is both delighted and gratified when his daughter asks him about a prize-winning house he designed.

Aose now works with Okajima, his boss in a small 5 person firm. Okajima is involved in local politics and is very keen that his firm should be chosen for a prestigious commission to design a memorial for a local artist in celebration of her work. For such a small firm to be chosen would be a massive feather in Okajima’s hat.

The financial crash destroyed Aose’s career among thousands of others, and he turned to drink so his employment with Okajima has saved him.

This house has special significance; one of the reasons he and his former wife fought was that they differed on the style of house they would want to live in. The house for which Aose won the award came with only one instruction: ‘design us a house that you would want to live in.’

Hidako’s interest in this house –‘the Y house’ which is featured in a glossy coffee table book of the top 200 Japanese houses, comes at the same time as a client of Aose’s asks him to recreate that design for themselves.

Aose has no real interest in recreating his original idea, but decides he’s like to discuss the idea with his original clients, especially as he has the idea of taking Hikado to see the house one day. But when he and his employer, Okajima go there they find that no-one is living in the house, and it appears that the owners never even moved in. All there is, apart from an answering machine, is a chair in a distinctive design, which Okajima thinks he recognises as the work of Bruno Taut, a real life German designer who came to Japan after fleeing the Nazis because he was a known socialist.

You will see from this that this is not a fast paced mystery. It is a series of layered looks into the human character and how these characters react to life changing events around them.

Yokoyama is clearly interested in the inspiration behind and the discipline of architecture and design. Behind that though, he is interested in human interaction and the politics of human interaction. So Yokoyama takes his time to build up an exploration of his characters and through their eyes, to show us how Japan works on a practical level and how creativity, politics and the media make unhappy bedfellows, especially in straightened times.

The North Light is another fascinating exploration into Japanese culture from Yokoyama. He dives deeply into his subject matter but in a way that allows readers to understand the discipline and the mindset of his characters. And once again those characters represent a cross-section of Japanese society and history so that readers get an insight into not only the characters themselves but the psyche of the nation. And while the resolution of the various plotlines is a little underwhelming, the plot drivers are not really the point, and the conclusion it does serve to underline the themes that Yokayama has been exploring.

There is so much packed into this beautifully structured novel and you really do get an insight into how a small office works and the politics and interactions between them.

Verdict: The North Light is not, in the end, a mystery that you have to seriously invest in. It is though, the vehicle for Aose’s journey of self-discovery and understanding. Arguably Yokoyama could have got there in fewer pages, but his central characters are so immersive and their journey so illuminating, that I was happy to take this journey and learn more about the Japanese way of life as I did so. I can’t help but love Yokoyama’s style.

The North Light by Hideo Yokoyama is a beautifully written and suspenseful novel that explores the themes of art, architecture, and loss. The plot centres on architect Minoru Aose, who recently finished his visionary Yoshino House project. Aose is saddened and perplexed when the clients do not move into the residence.
Aose starts looking into the Yoshino family in an effort to figure out why his work was rejected. He soon learns that they are entangled in a difficult web of connections. Aose also starts to face his own personal issues as he dives further, such as his broken marriage and his estranged daughter.
Yokoyama writes with restraint and elegance while evoking a distinct feeling of place. On the page, the Yoshino House itself comes to life as a potent representation of Aose's aspirations and regrets. The interactions between the characters are convincing and touching, and the characters are multifaceted and well-developed. It is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant story about the creative process, the nature of beauty, and the power of the past.

Japanese author Hideyo Yokoyama is probably best known for a crime procedural called Six Four. But while that novel had some of the trappings of the crime genre, Yokoyama was much more interested in the political machinations of the police, the bureaucracy and the press office. Similarly, his follow up Seventeen, had a real tragedy at its core, but focussed on the internal politics of a small newspaper. While is all to say that while his new novel The North Light (translated by Louise Heal Kawai), does have a mystery tied up with the work of its architect main character, it is clear that Yokoyama has much more on his mind than architecture.
Architect Minoru Aose has found himself famous for the construction of a particular house, so much so that new clients want him to build versions of it for themselves. Minoru does not feel he can do that but just to be sure he decides to go back to the house to talk to the clients that he built it for. Only he finds that he cannot get in touch with them. And when he and his boss Okajima go out to the property they find the front door unlocked and that no one has ever lived there. The only furniture in the house is a chair that Okajima believes was created by a famous German architect called Bruno Taut who lived in Japan for a time. Minoru becomes obsessed with discovering why his clients never moved into the house that he built for them. At the same time, Okajima is trying to manoeuvre the small architecture firm to be in the running for the construction of a memorial for a local artist.
While the mystery of the missing clients drives the plot of The North Light it is not Yokayama’s central concern. As with his other books this is just a scaffold on which to hang more interesting reflections. Yokoyama is much more interested in the craft of architecture. There is an exploration of the life of Bruno Taut, including a visit to a famous house that he designed and built. But more than that, he is interested in the relationship between people in the small architecture office – of the way in which the individuals relate to each other and come together to help their boss realise his dream. Around this is a consideration of the ongoing impacts of the Japanese financial crisis and the fraught commercial relationship between design, politics and the media.
The North Light is another fascinating exploration into Japanese culture from Yokoyama. He dives deeply into his subject matter but in a way that allows readers to understand the discipline and the mindset of his characters. And once again those characters represent a cross-section of Japanese society and history so that readers get an insight into not only the characters themselves but the psyche of the nation. And while the resolution of the various plotlines is a little underwhelming, the plot drivers are not really the point, and the conclusion it does serve to underline the themes that Yokayama has been exploring.

This book is originally described as a mystery: why is the house empty? In reality, that's the starting point for multiple storylines, some of which I enjoyed more than others.

The ending -- it had been spoiled for me by someone's review on Goodreads, so I wasn't surprised by it. Also, maybe it's a cultural difference, but I found it completely illogical. The path to get there was also strange, and this I am sure is because of cultural differences.

There were times in the book where the narrative dragged, in my opinion, and this novel could have been slightly shorter. I didn't always enjoy getting back to the book, and once I knew what the ending would be I had to convince myself to get through the book, as the main reason to read it would be to discover what's happened to the owner of the Y Residence.

The characters are well described and felt real to me. As I always have, I enjoyed the interactions and the depiction of Japanese culture. The plot is what I'm not 100% sold on.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

The North Light is a probing look at a man's life, and what he considers to be his achievements and his failures. For example, what is considered the pinnacle of a person's professional life - by himself or by others - may in fact be a far from accurate assessment. And what lies beneath the successes and disappointments in an individual's career is at least as telling as what we see on the surface.

Minoru Aose is an architect who received considerable acclaim for designing the private residence known as the Yoshino House. Indeed, to his considerable pride, his achievement made it on to one of those "200 best" lists.

The assignment came to Aose at an opportune time since he was not doing well after he lost his job due to the economic downturn. The breakdown of his family life also meant that he has had to schedule dates on which to see his daughter. Hence, the building stood for a lot more than a work opportunity in his life. Even more so when he was essentially told to build the house he would want to have.

So, when Aose finds out that the family who commissioned the design is not even living in the house - that, in fact, there is nothing but a chair occupying his cherished building - he is shocked and decides that he must find out what has happened here. But that is easier said than done, because Aose cannot immediately locate the family.

The journey in search of answers takes Aose to some unexpected places - not only does it require him travelling to different parts of Japan, but it also even draws him into the story of a German architect who lived in Japan during the 1930s.

In this carefully layered story, the author shows how what started off as a simple (if agonising) quest to find some people leads to Aose interrogating different parts of his life, including his marriage and his childhood, to discover how he has ended up where he is today. An interesting and subtle read that gets 3.5 stars.