Empress of Asia by Adam Lewis Schroeder

An interesting book, on several different levels. It begins and ends with a love story. The seventy-something narrator is given a cryptic message by his wife on her deathbed, to find someone that he thought had died long ago in southeast Asia. The entire middle section of the book recounts the life of the narrator during the second world war, when he was a prisoner of war in the infamous Japanese camps in southeast Asia (think "The Bridge on the River Kwai"), and the story of how he met his future wife and married her, as well as his friendship with the mysterious man who saves his life several times. The novel is brought to a close in the final part, when we return to the current time, and the narrator solves the mystery that his wife had set for him on her deathbed.

A couple of things make the book unusual. There are no chapter breaks, only the division of the book into three parts. It is told in a very close first-person narrative, as if the narrator is speaking to his dead wife, as in "I did this, when you did that." Unusual, but not unique. Another novel that is similar in construction is  "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. It is very effective in this case by adding a sense of urgency as the narrator is rushed from one life-changing event to another.

On the other hand, it is a little more difficult to read and absorb than a more normal novel. The lack of chapter breaks, or of any break, doesn't give the reader much time to pause. The very close narration is sometimes confusing - what is going on exactly? I had to re-read several pivotal scenes to make sure that I had understood exactly what had happened. The long middle section, as the narrator is captured, escapes, re-captured, shipwrecked, and so forth is possibly too long. We lose track of the love affair, which is only a small part of this section.

It is an excellent read, and the surprises of the final part of the book, as the narrator learns the truth about his wife and the mysterious man who saved his life are very satisfying. I highly recommend it.