This is a brief read that at times is dense and intricate (the sections about maps and the business of selling them) and at others sparse and under-developed (for example, I felt like I didn't fully know the characters). The writing is engaging and the language evocative, but I still felt little to no emotional connection to what was going on. Yet it did have a charm and the prologue in Maria's voice was particularly satisfying, the first genuinely touching moment for me.

The Consolation of Maps is the story of Kenji Tanabe, an expert on maps, whose life turns much more exciting when a job offer from the US comes along. He will soon find that the company he works for is much different that most that exist out there. His boss is an extremely intelligent, energetic woman, Theodora Appel. She seems perfectly in control of everything - but is it possible that she is hiding things beneath the surface?

The Consolation of Maps is a well-written story that will particularly appeal to people with a certain interest towards maps. Although the beginning of the book was very interesting, I sadly found the book extremely slow-paced. The characters were interesting, but not as in-depth as I had expected. A lot of questions are left about them, and I felt like there wasn't enough information about their background. Moreover, the whole plot seemed very anti-climactic, Lastly, although the information about maps in general was very interesting at first, the story was too focus on details and particulars about the business world connected to them, to the point where it started losing its appeal.

This is a quiet, understated and enjoyable book – perhaps fitting given the subject matter of the rarefied world of antique maps. Kenji Tanabe is lured by a job offer to work in America, leaving behind his native Japan. His new employer is the enigmatic Thea, mourning the death of her ex-lover and becoming more and more obsessed with buying the apartment in Florence he owned. Doing so jeopardises the financial situation of the company and puts it at risk of the backers Thea desperately tries to attract to keep the company afloat. Here, for me, is the main theme of the book; as one character puts it: ‘It’s the past that costs us so much.’

I am a massive fan of Japan and Japanese literature, and I have an interest in old maps and atlases, so this book appealed on both counts. For me, the potential to explore the culture clash between America and Japan (and Italy, where a large part of the book takes place) - and how Kenji could be an ‘outsider’ - is never fully developed. In the odd-ball world of antique mapping and the characters in the novel he is no different from the rest. The subplot of Kenji’s old professor translating a volume of Emily Dickinson poems didn’t really add anything to the book for me, although I’m sure it must have been intended to do so. On the other hand, the symbolism and metaphor of the maps did work (‘the world as it was’), giving Thea’s obsession with her loss all the more resonance. Maps are the past, something to hold onto, a consolation.

I felt that there were echoes of The Great Gatsby or The English Patient in the novel’s themes of love and longing, and the novel was well-written and kept me intrigued as we headed towards the (perhaps inevitable) tragic end. I would recommend this for anyone who likes books about ideas rather than pure characterisation, but it was an enjoyable read. 3 and a half stars (if I can be allowed that extra half a star!).

'The Consolation of Maps' was a pleasant read and well written. It's slow burning in terms of plot, which I normally enjoy, however, it relies heavily on describing the business of cartography, which is probably a little too obscure a subject to appeal to the general reader.

~Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title~