- Published: 08/10/2020
- ISBN: 9781783785674
- Granta Books
- 256 pages
Earthlings
Sayaka Murata
Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Natsuki isn’t like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what.
Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki’s family are increasing, her friends wonder why she’s still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki’s childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?
£12.99
I loved this book! It easily converted me to being an alien. A radical, hilarious, heartbreaking look at the crap we have all internalized in order to fit in and survive
Elif Batuman
A firecracker of a book...the story skates along the top of all this darkness, and shimmers with a deadpan wit. I loved it
Five Books
From the Same Author
Convenience Store Woman
, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Meet Keiko.
Keiko is 36 years old. She’s never had a boyfriend, and she’s been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years.
Keiko’s family wishes she’d get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won’t get married.
But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she’s not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store…
*Convenience Store Woman comes in three different colours; the colour you receive will be chosen at random*
Sayaka Murata on Granta.com
Fiction | The Online Edition
Faith
Sayaka Murata
‘Hey, Nagaoka, wanna start a new cult with me?’
New fiction by Sayaka Murata, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.