Breasts and Eggs
Aug 2020 · Pan Macmillan
4.2star
14 reviewsreport
Ebook
192
Pages
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About this ebook
A beguiling novel about three women struggling to determine their own lives in contemporary Tokyo.
'Breathtaking' – Haruki Murakami author of Norwegian Wood
A New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year' and one of Elena Ferrante's 'Top 40 Books by Female Authors'. Shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.
On a hot summer’s day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsuko, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko’s teenage daughter Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess despairing the loss of her looks, has travelled to Tokyo in search of breast enhancement surgery. She's accompanied by her daughter, who has recently stopped speaking, finding herself unable to deal with her own changing body and her mother’s self-obsession. Her silence dominates Natsuko’s rundown apartment, providing a catalyst for each woman to grapple with their own anxieties and their relationships with one another.
Eight years later, we meet Natsuko again. She is now a writer and finds herself on a journey back to her native city, returning to memories of that summer and her family’s past as she faces her own uncertain future.
In Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami paints a radical and intimate portrait of contemporary working class womanhood in Japan, recounting the heartbreaking journeys of three women in a society where the odds are stacked against them.
Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.
'Bold, modern and surprising' – An Yu, author of Braised Pork
'Incredible and propulsive' – Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times
'Breathtaking' – Haruki Murakami author of Norwegian Wood
A New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year' and one of Elena Ferrante's 'Top 40 Books by Female Authors'. Shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.
On a hot summer’s day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsuko, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko’s teenage daughter Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess despairing the loss of her looks, has travelled to Tokyo in search of breast enhancement surgery. She's accompanied by her daughter, who has recently stopped speaking, finding herself unable to deal with her own changing body and her mother’s self-obsession. Her silence dominates Natsuko’s rundown apartment, providing a catalyst for each woman to grapple with their own anxieties and their relationships with one another.
Eight years later, we meet Natsuko again. She is now a writer and finds herself on a journey back to her native city, returning to memories of that summer and her family’s past as she faces her own uncertain future.
In Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami paints a radical and intimate portrait of contemporary working class womanhood in Japan, recounting the heartbreaking journeys of three women in a society where the odds are stacked against them.
Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.
'Bold, modern and surprising' – An Yu, author of Braised Pork
'Incredible and propulsive' – Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times
Ratings and reviews
4.2
14 reviews
Moumita Debnath
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September 1, 2024
The story is engaging. It's really a woman's world. I got sucked right into it. It's full of despair and yet soothing somehow. People will always have something luxurious on their minds. We like to indulge in things we can't always afford. Sometimes it becomes the cherry on top of our ordinary boring lives.
Mirza Maghfira
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August 9, 2021
This book is very emotional, in my opinion. I love how it tells about the life of a woman with her feelings, confusion, and insecurities. it also covers a lot of topics that will be relatable for women out there. This deserves 5 stars, I really recommend it.
Ryan Truter
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July 31, 2021
All in all this was a pleasant book to read . Some chapters were not as interesting as others and for me personelly the book was a touch to long . The whole storyline and theme of the book was a very thought provoking topic . The thing i enjoyed the most , was no matter what was happening in the story , the author had such a incredible rich and beautiful way of describing things . Good read .
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Breasts and Eggs, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of TIME’s Best 10 Books, and the highly-acclaimed Heaven, her second novel to be translated and published in English, which Oprah Daily described as written “with jagged, visceral beauty.” Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet before publishing her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World. Known for their poetic qualities, their insights into the female body, and their preoccupation with ethics and modern society, her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Kawakami’s literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. She lives in Tokyo, Japan.
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