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The Woman in the Purple Skirt

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( 17,119 ratings, 2,646 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
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura is a captivating tale centred on a mysterious woman whose life is observed with intense fascination by an unnamed narrator. As the narrator becomes increasingly obsessed, she covertly influences the woman's life, leading to unexpected connections and psychological intrigue. This gripping narrative explores themes of loneliness, identity, and the complex interplay between observer and observed.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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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 are intrigued by stories that delve into the complexities of human behaviour and offer a touch of psychological suspense. This tale weaves a unique narrative filled with intrigue, observing the lives of two women whose paths intertwine in unexpected ways. If you appreciate vivid character exploration and a hint of mystery, this could be an engaging read for you.

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Clever, bewildering and darkly comic, The Woman in the Purple Skirt is the story of two women whose lives are set to become terribly entwined.

Clever, bewildering and darkly comic, The Woman in the Purple Skirt is the story of two women whose lives are set to become terribly entwined.

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

‘Very powerful ... Reading this book made me feel like I was in an unstable and strange world.’ - Sayaka Murata

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I've been wanting to become the friend of the Woman in the Purple Skirt for a very long time...

The Woman in the Purple Skirt seems to live in a world of her own. She appears to glide through crowded streets without acknowledging any reaction her presence elicits. Most afternoons, she sits on the same park bench, eating a pastry and ignoring the local children who make a game of trying to get her attention.

The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that.

‘A breathless novel ... You too will be obsessed with the Woman in the Purple Skirt and held in suspense until the last page.’ - Leila Slimani

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?

Natsuko Imamura's The Woman in the Purple Skirt is praised for its meticulous and precise prose, creating an unstable and strange world. Reviewers highlight the novel's sly humour and depiction of an unusual relationship between two women in contemporary Japan, noting its unique and gripping style. The story is described as a chilling exploration of envy and vulnerability, offering suspenseful and voyeuristic thrills with a distinctive narrative voice.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571364688

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 May 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Contributors:

  • Translated by Lucy North
  • Translated by Lucy North

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 189g

Pages: 224

About the Author

Natsuko Imamura was born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1980. Her fiction has won various prestigious Japanese literary prizes, including the Noma Literary New Face Prize, the Mishima Yukio Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize. She lives in Osaka with her husband and daughter.

Lucy North is a British translator of Japanese fiction and non-fiction. Her translations include Toddler Hunting and Other Stories, as yet the sole book of fiction in English by Taeko Kono, and Record of a Night Too Brief, a collection of stories by Hiromi Kawakami. Her fiction translations have appeared in Granta, Words Without Borders, and The Southern Review and in several anthologies, including The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories and The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature. She lives in Hastings, East Sussex.

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