Mr. Foreigner - Softcover

Daniel Thayne, a young Englishman, finds himself trapped in Tokyo. His passport lost, he’s working illegally in a ramshackle language school, and his boss refuses to pay his salary. He’s in a dead–end relationship with Keiko, his Japanese girlfriend, whose apartment is packed with stuffed toys. But his troubles are only beginning. As the hot, stormy rainy season descends, Keiko’s family appears on his doorstep, determined to pressure him into marriage with their daughter. Owners of their own mysterious and threatening “company business,” they set about taking over his life. As Daniel resists, or tries to, he will learn a great deal about Japan—and about his own culture. Winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize, Mr Foreigner is the deliciously funny debut of one of Britain’s finest contemporary novelists.

Matthew Kneale was born in London in 1960, the son of two writers. He studied at Oxford before spending a year in Tokyo where he taught English and first began writing. His novel, ENGLISH PASSENGERS was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize and won the 2000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award. He travels extensively.