This is easily one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm finding (after having recently read 100 Years of Solitude as well and being a staunch Murakami fan) that magical realism is probably my main, favorite genre (or at least tied with sci fi). The way this book weaves through time, through different characters and seemingly separate vignettes, all while maintaining a kind of spiritual continuity and adding depth of understanding to the others, thoroughly pulled me in.

This book is largely about racism and the English immigrant experience, and without giving spoilers I want to say that this book from the 1980's set in London is depressingly relevant to the 2020s US (and I suspect the UK as well, but I only feel comfortable commenting on my own culture). It felt like a truly powerful exploration of it, and the infusion of the supernatural never felt overdone.