Gifted

‘In this unsentimental novella, a young woman working as a bar hostess and sex worker in Tokyo reckons with several unresolved personal traumas … Based on Suzuki’s own experiences in the adult industry, the book chronicles the young woman’s wanderings from bar to bar, hospital to home, with brutal honesty.’

* The New Yorker *

‘Demonstrates that death is the only way forward. Oozes with maternal cruelty.’

-- Yōko Ogawa, author of The Memory Police

‘Gifted lyrically captures a moment in time, unwrapping the bittersweet denouement in a fraught relationship between a mother and daughter.’

-- Kris Kosaka * Japan Times *

‘Gifted explores beauty, and the body itself, as a troubling inheritance, a complicated gift that, at least for women, belongs to you but is never fully in your control.’

-- Rebecca Hussey * Words Without Borders *

‘There is a vigilance in her sentences. The author takes responsibility for every word.’

-- Shuichi Yoshidan author of Parade

‘A unique and propulsive story reminiscent of the emotional elusiveness of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman … With a style both clinical and aloof, the novella unfolds a heartbreaking story about the distance and closeness between mother and daughter.’

* Asian Review of Books *

‘Suzuki’s writing is like a blade wrapped in silk … She tackles heavy themes like sexual violence, mental illness, and the objectification of women with grace … It’s heavy, unsettling, but also hauntingly beautiful and absolutely worth the emotional rollercoaster.’

* Inked Thoughts *

‘A gleaming pocket knife of a novel stabbing into the heart of maternal abuse, inherited trauma, and the cyclical nature of sex work. With stylistic confidence and an unforgiving gaze, Suzumi Suzuki slashes through ideas of forgiveness and growth while razing a path forward only possible through demise.’

-- Mathuson Anthony * Book Club Bar (New York City, NY) *

‘Explores a fascinating Japanese subculture missing from the many translated novels we’ve seen recently from Japanese authors. That the novel and protagonist are based on the author’s own life gives Gifted an added layer of interest.’

-- Grace Sullivan * Fountain Bookstore (Richmond, V