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Territory of Light

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( 9,910 ratings, 1,589 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima unfolds over a year in the life of a young woman navigating the challenges of single motherhood after her separation. Set in a Tokyo apartment flooded with light, the story beautifully captures her journey towards independence, personal growth, and self-discovery amidst everyday struggles and emotional upheaval.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate a beautifully crafted narrative that explores themes of solitude, resilience, and self-discovery. Set against the backdrop of a Tokyo apartment, it delves into the inner world of a newly single mother as she navigates life's challenges with poetic depth and emotional insight. Perfect for readers who value introspection and rich, vivid storytelling.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A powerfully tender portrait of a single mother in 1970s Tokyo.

Wonderfully poetic ... extraordinary freshness ... a Virginia Woolf quality — Margaret Drabble

Territory of Light is the radiant story of a young woman, living alone in Tokyo with her two-year-old daughter. Its twelve chapters follow the first year of the narrator's separation from her husband. The novel is full of light, sometimes comforting and sometimes dangerous—sunlight streaming through windows, dappled light in the park, distant fireworks, dazzling floodwater, de-saturated streetlamps and mysterious explosions. The delicate prose is beautifully patterned—the cumulative effect is disarmingly powerful and bright after-images remain in your mind for a long time.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima is celebrated for its poetic and fresh writing style, with echoes of Virginia Woolf, that capture existential loneliness and single parenthood's joys and guilt. Reviewers praise its spiky atmosphere, intimate portrayal of motherhood, and the exquisite exploration of love and female independence. The novel's emotional depth and vivid strangeness make it resonate powerfully, likening Tsushima to literary masters like Woolf and Alice Munro.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241312629

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 April 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Geraldine Harcourt

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 9.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 101g

Pages: 128

About the Author

Yuko Tsushima (Author) Yuko Tsushima was born in Tokyo in 1947, the daughter of the novelist Osamu Dazai, who took his own life when she was one year old. Her prolific literary career began with her first collection of short stories, Shaniku-sai (Carnival), which she published at the age of twenty-four. She won many awards, including the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature (1977), the Kawabata Prize (1983) and the Tanizaki Prize (1998). She died in 2016.

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