Amélie Nothomb

The Japanese believe that until the age of three, children are gods, each one a 'Lord Child'. On their third birthday they fall from grace and join the rest of humanity. Narrated by a child - from the age of two and a half up until her third birthday - this novel reveals that the move from deity to ordinary member of …

According to ancient Japanese protocol, foreigners deigning to approach the emperor did so only with fear and trembling. Terror and self-abasement conveyed respect. Amélie, our well-intentioned and eager young Western heroine, goes to Japan to spend a year working at the Yumimoto Corporation. Returning to the land …