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With its echoes of the infamous, real-life Aum Shinrikyo cult (the group that released poison gas in the Tokyo subway system), "The Lake" unfolds as the most powerful novel Banana Yoshimoto has written. Visiting two of his friends who live a monastic life beside a beautiful lake, she begins to piece together a series of clues that lead her to suspect his experience may have had something to do with a bizarre religious cult. They eventually embark on a hesitant romance, until she learns that he has been the victim of some form of childhood trauma. until she realizes she's gotten used to seeing a young man across the street staring out his window, too. She finds herself spending too much time staring out her window, though. It tells the tale of a young woman who moves to Tokyo after the death of her mother, hoping to get over her grief and start a career as a graphic artist.

While" The Lake "shows off many of the features that have made Banana Yoshimoto famous-a cast of vivid and quirky characters, simple yet nuanced prose, a tight plot with an upbeat pace-it's also one of the most darkly mysterious books she's ever written.

Now in paperback: a quietly stunning tour de force about the redemptive power of love. In the final analysis, this putatively poignant novel about two lost souls, each with the emotional scars of his or her nontraditional childhood intact, fails at its most basic level: We cannot connect to either Chihiro or her lover with anything more than a facile awareness that they might be people worth knowing.