Sisters in Yellow
By Mieko Kawakami ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 7.5/10 ""No matter the relationship, the person who earned the money never forgot it was theirs. In their heart of hearts, it was them letting someone else use the money. As a favor."..."
By Mieko Kawakami
★★★★★★★½☆☆ 7.5/10
428 pages
What’s it about?
This story opens in Japan during the early days of COVID. Hana is in her early forties and happens upon some information about an old friend she hasn’t seen in years, Kimoko. This immediately takes her back to her youth in the 1990’s and makes her reexamine that time and her relationship with Kimiko.
What did it make me think about?
How women’s roles vary widely by culture- and yet have some similarities....
Should I read it?
I appreciated learning about life on the margins in Japan and a woman’s role in that society at that time, but the novel just never really caught me. I did not feel an emotional pull for the characters until the last few pages of the book, and for me, that was too little, too late. Funny enough, I have seen this novel categorized as suspenseful. It was interesting, but slow for me- definitely not suspenseful. If you are interested in gender roles in Japan, this book is for you.
A passage I marked
"No matter the relationship, the person who earned the money never forgot it was theirs. In their heart of hearts, it was them letting someone else use the money. As a favor."
