Set during multiple decades across the turn of the 21st century, One Hour of Fervor follows Haru, a Japanese art dealer who becomes obsessed with the daughter he is forbidden to meet. Following a brief affair in the 1970s with Maud, an emotionally troubled French woman, he learns that he is to become a father. When he reaches out to Maud, however, she threatens to kill herself should he ever attempt to contact her or their child again. Duty bound to keep his promise, Haru remains in Japan but hires a private investigator and photographer to shadow his daughter in France, watching her grow up from the other side of the world, longing to know her and introduce her to her Japanese ancestry.

Haru is a fascinating character and his psychological response to the heartbreaking situation he finds himself in is very much the focus of the novel, rather than any explosive plot developments. In ...