Fiction-In Translation-Japanese
By Yuta Takahashi. Translated from the original Japanese by Cat Anderson
Chibo’s quiet landscape and calm rural environment enables an emotional honesty that is often crowded out in the clamour of urban spaces. This distance is critical for Kotoko, who moves away from the commotion of the big city to this curative space, unaware as yet that the pain she carries within her can gradually be healed. The kitchen, located on a secluded stretch of the seashore, is a gentle, comforting place where the dead appear quietly, without fanfare, in a fleeting blur of space and time, stepping back into life for a few moments to connect with a loved one over a ritual meal.
Reviewed by: Ranjana Kaul