A preternaturally gifted pianist, Satomi lives with her elusive mother in a tiny northern Japanese town. Her fall from grace is echoed in the life of her daughter, Rumi, who unleashes a ghost she must chase from foggy San Francisco to a Buddhist temple atop Japan's icy Mount Doom. Written in strikingly unusual prose that manages to be simultameously sharp and lush, Picking Bones From Ash examines the power and limitations of female talent in a globalised world.