A hilarious, feminist read from a new star in Japanese fiction.
For the sake of women everywhere, Ms Shibata is going to pull off the mother of all deceptions.
One day at work, Ms Shibata refuses to clear away the coffee cups, because she is pregnant, and cannot bear the smell. The only thing is, Ms Shibata is not pregnant.
At first, the lie offers her freedom. But being a mother-to-be is not easy. Ms Shibata has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Before long, it becomes all absorbing, and with the help of towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app tracking every stage of her imagined baby’s development, the boundary between deception and reality begins to dissolve.
Diary of a Void is a prizewinning Japanese novel about workplace sexism, gender roles and loneliness. Hilarious and unsettling, it is a subversive feminist novel about what happens when a lie takes on a life of its own.
Translated from the Japanese by David Boyd and Lucy North
'Incredibly thought-provoking... you'll love Yagi's writing' STYLIST
'A subversive, surreal read that will strike a cord' RED
'One of the most passionate cases I've ever read for female interiority, for women's creative pulse and rich inner life' NEW YORKER
About the Author :
Emi Yagi is an editor at a women’s magazine in Japan. She was born in 1988 and lives in Tokyo. Her first novel and international cult hit, Diary of a Void, won the Osamu Dazai Prize, awarded annually to the best debut work of fiction. Lucy North is a British translator of Japanese fiction and non-fiction. Her translations include Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono, The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, and Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. Her work has appeared in Granta, Words Without Borders and The Southern Review, and in several anthologies including The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature and Found in Translation: 100 of the Finest Short Stories Ever Translated. David Boyd is assistant professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has translated fiction by Hiroko Oyamada and Hideo Furukawa, among others.
Review :
If you're in the mood for a matter-of-fact and incredibly thought-provoking read, you'll love Yagi's writing.
The tension grows along with the comedic details. . . . Diary of a Void starts as stylish satire... but it becomes something even more profound. Always expect the unexpected when you're not expecting.
A subversive, surreal read that will strike a cord.
One of the most passionate cases I've ever read for female interiority, for women's creative pulse and rich inner life.
Endlessly strange, funny and meaningful... This book is a powerful exploration of what it means to be single and childless, and of the impact of work on our bodies and mental health
Yagi has a light touch for the endless ironies made possible by her premise. There is humor, but also the realization that the alienation of pregnancy and motherhood is no reprieve from the oppressive office culture that inspires Shibata's experiment.
Delightful . . . Yagi's focus is on how acting pregnant reshapes Shibata's relationship to herself... Yet the book never idealizes pregnancy...We see the difficulty of being a woman with or without a child, and Yagi emphasizes how society makes both roles harder... If you've ever wanted to bite back at a nosy boss, a rude co-worker, an unfair assignment, or the endless list of shoulds we face, then maybe you'll find something to enjoy in Shibata's audacity too.
One of the most intriguing new novels of the summer.
Shibata is a modern-day Bartleby.
Darkly funny and surprisingly tender.
