By Asako Yuzuki
Harpercollins, Paperback, £9.99
11 months ago, the paperback for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (by Gabrielle Zevin) came out and I spent the summer selling it. My first thought was that it was probably overhyped, but I was intrigued and caved when a friend lent me a copy in early autumn. I ended up reading it and loved it.
3 months ago Butter came out and I’ve sold it steadily ever since. My first thought was that it was probably overhyped, but I was intrigued and got my hands on a copy. I just finished it and I loved it.
Butter is one of those stories that is not about what it seems – at first glance, it is the story of a journalist, Rika, trying to get an exclusive interview with a woman, Manako Kajii, convicted for the murder of her past three boyfriends and awaiting retrial. The natural question that emerges as Rika tries to understand the person behind the glass of the visiting room at the detention house is naturally – so, did she do it? And Rika changes her answer several times throughout the book. But really, this isn’t what the book is about.
Rika’s investigation into the cases and the life of this woman leads her to contemplate many things in her personal life, all relatable – appreciating good food, but also what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s job, what it’s like to gain weight as a woman in today’s society, what it’s like to care for your parents as you grow older, what it’s like to have strong friendships as an adult (with women and with men), what it’s like to be in a marriage, what it’s like to be a single woman in your thirties, what parasocial relationships can mean, how women are often held solely responsible for both the children and adults around them, how to take care of yourself and not wait for someone to be by your side to do it, how to build a community of people around you, how to find happiness and fulfilment outside society’s norms. Beyond the story of Manako Kajii, whether she is guilty and why she would commit those crimes, the book is about how Rika loses and finds herself in the process of trying to understand the case and reassessing all these things in her life.
I loved it.
For a thematic pairing, read it with the gorgeous memoir, Arrangements in Blue, by Amy Key.
Paperback, £9.99
(Review by Leti)