Hooked

Pre-order an exclusive independent bookshop edition with free tote bag while stocks last

Eriko’s life appears perfect – devoted parents, pristine apartment and a high-flying job in the seafood division of one of Japan’s largest trading companies. Her latest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market, is characteristically ambitious.

But beneath her flawless surface she is wracked by loneliness. Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife, Shoko. Shoko’s posts about eating convenience-store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanese housewife’s manicured lifestyle.

When Eriko tracks Shoko down at her favourite restaurant and befriends her, Shoko is at first charmed by her new companion. But soon Eriko’s obsession with Shoko begins to spiral out of control, threatening her carefully laid plans. How far will she go to hold on to the best friend she’s ever had?

Beautifully translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is an unsettling story of the line between friendship and dangerous obsession, and a delicious exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan.

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