Woman on the Other Shore: A Novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta, translated by Wayne P. Lammers [in Bloomsbury Review]
Making the playground rounds in hopes of finding a community among stay-at-home moms and their children has left Sayoko lonelier than ever. When she gets a job offer from single, brash, energetic Aoi, she immediately signs on, even though the job amounts to little more than house cleaning. The novel weaves back and forth between Sayoko’s journey toward greater self-confidence and Aoi’s relationship decades ago with a lost best friend. Together the two narratives offer a contemporary view of divergent life choices for today’s modern Japanese woman.
Shore was the 2005 winner of Japan’s prestigious Naoki Prize, which recognizes the best popular literature by a young author.
Readers: Adult
Published: 2007 (United States)
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