Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima review – tales from Tokyo
This short, powerful novel translated by Geraldine Harcourt follows a single mother’s struggles to build a life in the cityPeter Beech
Fri 20 Apr 2018 15.00 BST
The highly regarded Japanese novelist Yūko Tsushima, who died two years ago, drew on her own experiences for this 1979 novel, translated by Geraldine Harcourt, about a single mother struggling to build a life in Tokyo. Its 12 linked tales of the city are fine-grained to the point of mundanity – finding an apartment, discovering a leak, visiting a park – but in Tsushima’s hands they achieve a deceptive, luminous clarity.
This short, powerful novel translated by Geraldine Harcourt follows a single mother’s struggles to build a life in the city
Peter BeechFri 20 Apr 2018 15.00 BST
The highly regarded Japanese novelist Yūko Tsushima, who died two years ago, drew on her own experiences for this 1979 novel, translated by Geraldine Harcourt, about a single mother struggling to build a life in Tokyo. Its 12 linked tales of the city are fine-grained to the point of mundanity – finding an apartment, discovering a leak, visiting a park – but in Tsushima’s hands they achieve a deceptive, luminous clarity.