The Typist

An American soldier works in post-surrender Japan in a novel "reminiscent of The English Patient . . . sad, wistful and romantic" (Los Angeles Times).

When Francis Vancleave joins the army in 1944, he expects his term of service to pass uneventfully. His singular talent—typing ninety-five words a minute—keeps him off the battlefield and in General MacArthur's busy Tokyo headquarters, where his days are filled with paperwork in triplicate and letters of dictation.

But little does Van kn...