by Anna Smaill
First published 2024
Dinah travels from New Zealand to Tokyo to teach English and mourn her brother Michael, a classical pianist whose musical genius couldn't save him from his troubles. She lives in an eerily quiet apartment building where Michael's presence haunts every room. Yasuko works at a language school, watching her students and the world around her with careful attention. Since age thirteen, she has heard animals speak to her, sharing secrets she often wishes to ignore. She has buried these abilities for years, especially around her adult son Jun. When Jun disappears from their home, even Yasuko's special gifts cannot locate him. In Ueno Park, where office workers eat lunch and pigeons fly between the trees, Dinah and Yasuko meet by chance. Their friendship grows as each woman struggles with grief and the weight of living between two worlds. Together they discover that the boundary between internal experience and external reality might not be as fixed as they believed.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: New Zealand, Tokyo, Ueno Park
Period: contemporary
304 pages · Paperback · Scribe US
Content warnings: mental-illness