It is 1998, and in Japan the economy has come to a standstill. Seventeen-year-old Hana is determined to give herself a better future than her mother, and earning a decent income becomes the greatest goal in her life. The staff of the bar where she works – Kimiko, Ran, and Momoko – forms her new family. Surviving is heavy and more cracks appear in Hana’s perfect picture. To keep her head above water and her family together, Hana ends up on an increasingly darker and more dangerous path, of which no way seems to be back. In this book, Mieko Kawakami explores human dignity, feminine connectedness, and the illusion of free will with her characteristic, keen eye.

It is 1998, and in Japan the economy has come to a standstill. Seventeen-year-old Hana is determined to give herself a better future than her mother, and earning a decent income becomes the greatest goal in her life. The staff of the bar where she works – Kimiko, Ran, and Momoko – forms her new family. Surviving is heavy and more cracks appear in Hana’s perfect picture. To keep her head above water and her family together, Hana ends up on an increasingly darker and more dangerous path, of which no way seems to be back. In this book, Mieko Kawakami explores human dignity, feminine connectedness, and the illusion of free will with her characteristic, keen eye.