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Last Quadrant
Book by Chand, Meira
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2025
An orphanage setting in Kobe, Japan. Just as the reader becomes acquainted with the story's primary characters and their personal struggles, a typhoon and tsunami wallop the city.
Reading Last Quadrant, I was reminded of Hugh MacLennan's Barometer Rising, published some forty years earlier. In both novels, the narrative is suddenly interrupted by physical catastrophe. In both cases, the reader is left wondering: Who will be injured? Who might be killed? How will the natural disaster (or man-made disaster) affect the characters' feelings and futures?
Overall, a worthwhile read.
Reading Last Quadrant, I was reminded of Hugh MacLennan's Barometer Rising, published some forty years earlier. In both novels, the narrative is suddenly interrupted by physical catastrophe. In both cases, the reader is left wondering: Who will be injured? Who might be killed? How will the natural disaster (or man-made disaster) affect the characters' feelings and futures?
Overall, a worthwhile read.
June 5, 2022
The Last Quadrant is about the social circles of British expatriates in modern day Japan, and how these existing social boundaries shift and interact when a typhoon occurs.
Chand brings Japan to life with her vivid, lush writing that makes some scenes feel as if they were unfolding on a television screen. There are also plenty of nuggets of historical and cultural information that will delight readers in search of historical versimilitude. Chand also introduces a multifaceted cast of characters to illustrate the layers of nuance even within the expatriate community. It was quite an effort for me to familiarize myself with the number of characters introduced in Part 1, but I was glad I made the effort when the pace picked up in the later parts. Chand is skilled at clearly signposting where the story is going in a way that stands out even through the layers of descriptive detail. The plot is also tightly constructed, which kept me turning the pages quickly.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in immersing themselves in a specific slice of history, as well as those interested in exploring how the natural world interacts with our social and cultural structures.
Disclaimer: I read and reviewed this book for a session where our writing group invited Meira for a discussion/Q&A.
Chand brings Japan to life with her vivid, lush writing that makes some scenes feel as if they were unfolding on a television screen. There are also plenty of nuggets of historical and cultural information that will delight readers in search of historical versimilitude. Chand also introduces a multifaceted cast of characters to illustrate the layers of nuance even within the expatriate community. It was quite an effort for me to familiarize myself with the number of characters introduced in Part 1, but I was glad I made the effort when the pace picked up in the later parts. Chand is skilled at clearly signposting where the story is going in a way that stands out even through the layers of descriptive detail. The plot is also tightly constructed, which kept me turning the pages quickly.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in immersing themselves in a specific slice of history, as well as those interested in exploring how the natural world interacts with our social and cultural structures.
Disclaimer: I read and reviewed this book for a session where our writing group invited Meira for a discussion/Q&A.
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September 13, 2014wud like to read and re-read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews