Deep River

'Endo is one of the world's greatest novelists' Washington Post A group of Japanese tourists journey to the sacred River Ganges, each on a secret personal pilgrimage.

Widower Isobe mourns for the devoted wife he neglected; gentle children's writer Numanda seeks out the bird he believes saved his life; Kiguchi is haunted by his time as a soldier along the Highway of Death; and Mitsuko reconnects with the classmate she tempted away from the church and cruelly discarded. At the softly lapping shores of the river - where the faithful come to bathe during their final moments - self-knowledge is sought and memories put to rest. Set against a rich backdrop of 90s India, Deep River is a beautifully moving story showing Endo at the height of his powers as a chronicler of religious experience. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe. Translated by Van C. Gessel. Shusaku Endo (1923-1996) was one of the greatest novelists of postwar Japan.

Baptised as a Roman Catholic as a child, his work explores the relationship between East and West from his unique perspective as a Japanese Christian. Endo won the Akutgawa Prize and the Yomiuri Literary Prize, was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, and received an Order of Culture from the Japanese government.