PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Mai has recently married a salaryman and realises she will never be the perfect wife he requires, or the mother of the grandchildren her parents expect. When she meets the mother of an old schoolfriend, she learns that Hikaru has become a recluse who will not leave his room nor interact with anyone physically - a hikikomori.
At his mother's request, she writes letters to him, trying to coax him back into the world. At the same time she is feeling less visible herself...
Between the narratives of Mai and Hikaru are interludes from a westerner in Japan exploring ideas of self, solitude, restlessness and loneliness. This is a mesmerising novel, carefully crafted and quite haunting, something to read slowly and thoughtfully. Lindy
'A compelling story about isolation, duty, desire, fear and escape. As each character in The Shut-Ins feels increasingly trapped by societal pressure, they explore the possibility of retreating to some indefinable, unknowable place. The Shut Ins will appeal to fans of thoughtful literary fiction with a touch of otherworldliness, such as Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah and Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.' - Bookseller & Publisher 'Not only is The Shut Ins a compelling story about hikikomori, those who seek absolute isolation from society, and those who orbit them in their reclusion, it is also a profound exploration of loneliness, solitude, and that peculiar, ineffable yearning for inner or unconscious worlds; the chimeric 'other side'. Katherine Brabon is a precise and contemplative writer, her prose capable of intense, almost-heady evocation. I will read everything she writes.' - Hannah Kent, bestselling author of Burial Rites and The Good People 'Brabon's intellectual and emotional knowledge, and her plainspoken yet spellbinding prose come together in a mesmerising work of art.' - Mireille Juchau, bestselling author of The World Without Us Mai and Hikaru went to school together in the city of Nagoya, until Hikaru disappeared when they were eighteen.
Katherine Brabon's debut novel The Memory Artist won the The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award (Allen & Unwin, 2016), was shortlisted in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and longlisted in the Indie Book Awards. She was co-winner of the 2019 David Harold Tribe Prize from The University of Sydney for her short fiction, and a runner-up in the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize in 2020. Katherine was an Ambassador at the Melbourne Emerging Writer's Festival in 2019 and enjoys an active role in Australia's literary community. Katherine's writing has appeared in The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, The Lifted Brow, Island magazine, Southerly and she is a regular contributor to Lindsay magazine. She has received grants from the Australia Council and Creative Victoria, and residencies at Chateau Lavigny, Art Omi and the UNESCO Cities of Literature International Residency in Ljubljana.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Mai has recently married a salaryman and realises she will never be the perfect wife he requires, or the mother of the grandchildren her parents expect. When she meets the mother of an old schoolfriend, she learns that Hikaru has become a recluse who will not leave his room nor interact with anyone physically - a hikikomori.
At his mother's request, she writes letters to him, trying to coax him back into the world. At the same time she is feeling less visible herself...
Between the narratives of Mai and Hikaru are interludes from a westerner in Japan exploring ideas of self, solitude, restlessness and loneliness. This is a mesmerising novel, carefully crafted and quite haunting, something to read slowly and thoughtfully. Lindy
