South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

A story of love and obsession and regret, this is the story of Hajime, middle aged and relatively happily married, who still remembers and yearns for his first love, a girl named Shimamoto whom he hasn't seen since they were twelve. He tells us the story of his life with Shimamoto when they were young neighbors and how he drifted through the various stages of his life after he moved away from her. Now that he's settled down, she re-enters his life one night, walking into the jazz club he owns. A lifetime of romanticized regret about Shimamoto takes over and he hangs his 'true' happiness on her reappearance. She is myserious about her own life, refusing to reveal anything about herself, but he only sees the romanticized image of the girl (and the boy) he left behind. If you liked Norwegian Wood, you'll like this one too.