Description
A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
‘A love letter to Japan and its literature’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
‘Ingenious… Touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking’ Guardian
‘An ideal tonic for anyone craving far-flung adventure’ Mail on Sunday
‘If you’re itching to read a new novel by David Mitchell…try this’ The Times
_______________
In Tokyo – one of the world’s largest megacities – a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.
But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers – from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo’s denizens, drawing them ever closer.
‘Masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo; its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat.’ David Peace, author of THE TOKYO TRILOGY
One of the Independent‘s best debuts
Longlisted for the DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD, 2021
