Spring Garden (Japanese Novellas) by Tomoka Shibasaki
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$15.95
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From Steerforth Press / Pushkin Press
“This gentle story about people brought together by places is like a good meditation: quiet, surprising and deeply satisfying” — New York Times Book Review
Subtle, affecting Japanese fiction from a fresh new voice; a sharp, photo-realistic novella of memory and thwarted hope.
Subtle, affecting Japanese fiction from a fresh new voice; a sharp, photo-realistic novella of memory and thwarted hope.
Written in beautiful prose full of arresting imagery, this is an unusual and moving story of urban loneliness, loss, and surprising connections.
Divorced and cut off from his family, Taro lives alone in one of the few occupied apartments in his block, a block which will be torn down once the remaining tenants leave. Since his father’s death, Taro keeps to himself, but he’s soon drawn into an unusual relationship with the woman upstairs, Nishi, as she shares the strange tale of the sky-blue house next door.
First discovered by Nishi in the little-known photo-book 'Spring Garden', the sky-blue house soon becomes a focus for both Nishi and Taro: of what is lost, what has been destroyed, and of what hope may yet lie in the future for both of them, if only they can manage to seize it.
In just a few vivid snapshots, we are provided with a sense of the characters’ entire lives. Shibasaki “transforms the mundane minutiae of their lives into a thoughtful exploration of home, loss, and reconstruction” (Publishers Weekly).
Part of Pushkin’s Japanese Novella series: stylishly designed editions of the best of contemporary Japanese fiction, featuring celebrated, prize-winning authors including Mieko Kawakami, Hiromi Kawakami, Hideo Furukawa, Kaori Fujino and Natsuko Imamura.
Divorced and cut off from his family, Taro lives alone in one of the few occupied apartments in his block, a block which will be torn down once the remaining tenants leave. Since his father’s death, Taro keeps to himself, but he’s soon drawn into an unusual relationship with the woman upstairs, Nishi, as she shares the strange tale of the sky-blue house next door.
First discovered by Nishi in the little-known photo-book 'Spring Garden', the sky-blue house soon becomes a focus for both Nishi and Taro: of what is lost, what has been destroyed, and of what hope may yet lie in the future for both of them, if only they can manage to seize it.
In just a few vivid snapshots, we are provided with a sense of the characters’ entire lives. Shibasaki “transforms the mundane minutiae of their lives into a thoughtful exploration of home, loss, and reconstruction” (Publishers Weekly).
Part of Pushkin’s Japanese Novella series: stylishly designed editions of the best of contemporary Japanese fiction, featuring celebrated, prize-winning authors including Mieko Kawakami, Hiromi Kawakami, Hideo Furukawa, Kaori Fujino and Natsuko Imamura.