Banana Yoshimoto — Kitchen

Faber 1993 Hardback. An enchantingly original and deeply affecting book about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Mikage, the heroine of Kitchen, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, she is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother (who was once his father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale that recalls early Marguerite Duras. Kitchen and its companion story, 'Moonlight Shadow,' are elegant tales whose seeming simplicity is the ruse of a writer whose voice echoes in the mind and the soul. DJ; Price clipped. DJ bruised along the edges; original price sticker on front. (ISBN: 9780571167906). Good.