Buruma turns to fiction in this intricately plotted novel based on the life of WWII-era Shirley Yamaguchi (AKA Ri Koran). Hiding her Japanese identity in U.S.-occupied Tokyo while performing as a Chinese beauty in censor-approved films, Yamaguchi Yoshiko moves to America, where she marries a Japanese diplomat, transforming herself into a talk show host. A historian by trade, the Chinese invasion of Japan is told in well-researched detail.  (CHN528, $26.95)