The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Ogawa is a best selling author in Japan. Fortunately for us this book has been translated into English. One of the first things to strike me about this book was the similarity between this book and Daphne du Maurier's classic novel, Rebecca. (I know that the title is supposed to be underlined but I don't know how to do it on this site!) Both of these books are written in first person and we never know the name of the characters! I hope you are not expecting more comparisons between the two - that was the only one I noticed. I'm sure that it is deeply significant but I really don't care! This is a short, sweet book. I enjoyed it and that was enough for me. You know what it is about if you read the title. The catch? Well, the professor is a brilliant mathematician. Unfortunately he was the victim of a terrible car accident and he suffered severe brain damage. So at the age of 47 he was fired by the University and makes his "living" by winning mathematics contest. (who knew there was such a thing???). He remembers everything he knew before the accident. As for the present - he remembers things for 88 minutes and then it is gone. So every morning the Housekeeper and the Professor "meet" for the first time. This is the story of their relationship - and of the growing friendship between the Housekeeper's young son and the Professor. The only part I didn't like was the discussions about math - and that was easy enough to skim! A different book but I liked it and I think we could all learn a few things from the story.