The Woman in the Purple Skirt

Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench, where she eats a cream bun while the local children make a game of trying to get her attention. Perched just out of sight is the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who monitors which buses she takes, and what she eats, and whom she speaks to, and who lures her to a job as a hotel housekeeper. Soon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt is having an affair with the boss and all eyes are on her. But no one knows or cares about the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan.

Humorously deadpan and chillingly voyeuristic, this bestselling, prize-winning novel by one of Japan's most acclaimed young writers is an off-kilter, unsettling, suspenseful narrative about the sometimes desperate desire to be seen.