This is classic whodunnit territory but Guterson's fiercely intelligent and moving novel is far more than a murder mystery ... Guterson has written a novel about the human condition that marvellously combines tenderness and excitement.

In 1954 a fisherman is found dead in the nets of his boat,and a local Japanese-American man is charged with his murder. In the course of his trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than one man's guilt. For on San Piedro,memories grow as thickly as the cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries - memories of a charmed but forbidden love affair; of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbours watched.