WIND AND STONE by Masaaki Tachihara,...

WIND AND STONE by Masaaki Tachihara, translated from the Japanese by Stephen W. Kohl (Stone Bridge Press, P.O. Box 8208, Berkeley, CA 94707: $10.95). A formal garden becomes a metaphor for an illicit romance between a married woman and a traditional artisan in this elegiac novel. Mizue, a respectable housewife in her early 30s, finds herself drawn to Kase, who designs the garden for her new house. While Mizue grapples with the conflicting demands of passion, duty and her love for her children, the detached Kase compares his emotional states to the classic gardens he studies. Lacking the courage to live on their own terms, the lovers are forced to accept a bitter series of compromises.