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The Boy and the Dog

Seishu Hase Alison Watts

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English
Simon & Schuster
01 November 2023
The new novel from the award-winning translator of Sweet Bean Paste

Winner of the Naoki Prize

Winner of the Society of Authors Sasakawa Foundation Prize 

Perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and Before the Coffee Gets Cold 

'It’s no wonder the author won the prestigious Naoki Prize for this novel, which is at times heartwarming and suspenseful, detailing true resilience and survival.' Belfast Telegraph

'Everyone, please read this English translation and keep a handkerchief nearby.’ Nozomi Abe, Sasakawa Prize judge

One dog changes the life of everyone who takes him in on his journey to reunite with his first owner in this inspiring tribute to the bond between humans and dogs and the life-affirming power of connection.

Following a devastating earthquake and tsunami, a young man in Japan finds a stray dog outside a convenience store. The dog’s tag says “Tamon,” a name evocative of the guardian deity of the north. The man decides to keep Tamon, becoming the first in a series of owners as the dog journeys south to find the boy whom disaster tore him from.

 

Over the course of five years, Tamon will be taken into six vastly different homes, the final one belonging to his beloved first owner, Hikaru, a boy who has not spoken since the trauma of the tsunami. An agent of fate, Tamon is a gift to everyone who welcomes him into their life.

At once heart-rending and heart-warming, intimate and panoramic, suspenseful and luminous, this bestselling, award-winning novel weaves a feel-good tale of survival, resilience, and love beyond measure.

“Heartrending . . . Powerfully demonstrates how love and loyalty can overcome obstacles . . . and how a dog’s love can save a person in every possible way.”  Booklist

“Affecting . . . Moving . . . Never feels sentimental or overdrawn . . . [Seishu Hase] proves himself a gifted storyteller.” Publishers Weekly

“Heartbreakingly moving in its simplicity . . . A touching meditation on shining lights in the face of trauma and hopelessness.” Kirkus Reviews

By:  
Translated by:  
Imprint:   Simon & Schuster
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 130mm,  Spine: 20mm
ISBN:   9781398515406
ISBN 10:   139851540X
Pages:   320
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Seishu Hase has published many bestselling novels in his native Japan, a number of which have been adapted for film. He has been nominated six times for the Naoki Prize, awarded biannually to the best work of popular fiction, and finally won it for The Boy and the Dog.

Reviews for The Boy and the Dog

"""A most extraordinary novel . . . An instant classic . . . It feels like The Odyssey . . . but from a dog's point of view. . . . It really stays with you."" ―NPR's Dog Talk ""Sure, you may have read a dog-finding-their-way-home story before, but this one is special. . . . [The dog] enchants and helps each of his temporary owners on his way home, and we imagine he'll do the same for you."" ―Shondaland ""Moving . . . Dog lovers will need no encouragement to pick [it] up."" ―The Sydney Morning Herald ""A delightful read. It's heartbreaking, it's funny, it's sad―it really covers all of the emotions. . . . It's an incredible novel--I really loved every moment of it."" ―Christopher Hermelin, So Many Damn Books (podcast) ""Much like the love of our dogs, this fable about a lost dog and his epic journey to find home is a gift to us all."" ―Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Celebrants ""A remarkable story of the transformative power of a dog. Like a figure from myth or fable, the dog inspires in the very flawed humans he encounters a desire for a new life, a new chance--and he just may do the same for you."" --Susan Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of One Good Dog ""A must read for any dog lover, this story of companionship, perseverance, and an incredible journey to find a long-lost friend speaks to our canine counterparts' innate ability to sense the times of our deepest need."" --Ben Moon, author of Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime ""A highly original and unsentimental novel about the powerful bond between humans and dogs."" ―Helen Humphreys, author of And a Dog Called Fig ""A preternaturally intelligent dog, but lost all the same, in a tsunami-ravaged Japan, is called many names by many people. Lose yourself in this story of a dog finding his way home, and in the stories of the lives he changes. No one stays the same, least of all the reader."" ―Michelle Latiolais, author of Even Now, Widow, and She ""Heartwarming and suspenseful, detailing true resilience and survival."" ―Belfast Telegraph ""A moving account of a lost dog . . . Inspiring . . . Life-affirming."" --AsiaOne ""Its plain and honest prose . . . allows you to fill in the spaces with your own lived experience, especially if you've had a lasting bond with a beloved animal who profoundly changed your life."" --The Waterloo Region Record ""Heartrending . . . Powerfully demonstrates how love and loyalty can overcome obstacles . . . and how a dog's love can save a person in every possible way."" ―Booklist ""Affecting . . . Moving . . . Never feels sentimental or overdrawn . . . [Seishu Hase] proves himself a gifted storyteller."" ―Publishers Weekly ""Heartbreakingly moving in its simplicity . . . A touching meditation on shining lights in the face of trauma and hopelessness."" ―Kirkus Reviews"


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