The story of three women by a writer hailed by Haruki Murakami as Japan's
most important contemporary novelist, WINNER OF THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE. On a
sweltering summer day, Makiko travels from Osaka to Tokyo, where her sister
Natsu lives. She is in the company of her daughter, Midoriko, who has
lately grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet
overwhelming pressures associated with adolescence. The story of these
three women reunited in a working-class neighborhood of Tokyo is told
through the gaze of Natsu--thirty years old, an aspiring writer, haunted by
hardships endured in her youth. Over the course of their few days together
in the capital, Midoriko's silence will prove a catalyst for each woman to
confront her fears and family secrets. On yet another blistering summer's
day eight years later, Natsu, during a journey back to her native city,
struggles with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties
about growing old alone and childless. One of Japan's most important and
best-selling writers, Mieko Kawakami mixes stylistic inventiveness, wry
humor, and riveting emotional depth to tell a story of contemporary
womanhood in Japan. Breasts and Eggs recounts the intimate journeys of
three women on the path to finding peace and futures they can call their
own. Original and deeply moving...This book is a gift.--Laura van den
Berg A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR Vogue・Thrillist・The Millions・
Literary Hub・Now Toronto