Diary of a Void: A hilarious, feminist read from the new star of Japanese fiction

Brought to you by Penguin. A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she's pregnant When thirty-four-year-old Ms Shibata gets a new job in Tokyo to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that, as the only woman at her new workplace - a company that manufactures cardboard tubes - she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her colleagues' dirty cups - because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms Shibata is not pregnant. Pregnant Ms Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But pregnant Ms Shibata also has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Helped along by towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app on which she can log every stage of her 'pregnancy', she feels prepared to play the game for the long haul. Before long, though, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve. A surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique, Diary of a Void is bound to become a landmark in feminist world literature. © Emi Yagi 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

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.