HAUNTED BY THE PAST

A GESTURE LIFE

By Chang-Rae Lee

Riverhead, 356 pages, $23.95

Doc Hata isn’t really a doctor, but the suburb of Bedley Run treats him like one because he once owned a medical supply store. The respected, Korean-born “doctor’s” retirement is anything but serene, however; he’s haunted by memories of working for the Japanese army in World War II. In simple, elegant prose, Chang-Rae Lee’s novel traces one man’s chilling inner conflict.