The Final Martyrs

The eleven spiritual narratives in The Final Martyrs are filled with ruminations on ethnicity and morality from Shusaku Endo's unique perspective as a Japanese Christian. Endo used the short story form to try out ideas that would later emerge as novels. The Final Martyrs begins with the title story that would become Endo's novel, Silence, currently being made into a film by Martin Scorsese starring Daniel Day Lewis. It is a story about the 18th century Shogunate persecution of Christians in Japan. One cowardly, imprisoned layman quickly denounces his faith during torture. He is set free, but returns to seek redemption from the brothers he betrayed. In the autobiographical "The Box," Endo travels to a small town in Northern Japan and discovers a box full of old Christian antiques, including postcards, whose seemingly innocent messages have hidden meanings. Together these stories constitute a singular declaration of faith. The highly acclaimed West Indian author, Caryl Phillips, supplements this collection with an enlightening introduction to Shusaku Endo's life and work.