Revenge

"Tightly constructed, these stories also pack a surprisingly emotional punch. A darkly moving, dazzling and intelligent book"

"The odd stories of Yoko Ogawa irrupt from the ordinary world as if from the unconscious or the grave. Ogawa has said her work is influenced by Haruki Murakami's magic-realist style. There are fantastic flashes, such as a woman born with a heart outside her body. Yet the overall effect is more David Lynch: the rot that lurks beneath the surface of the world. The result is spectral connectedness. Ms Ogawa understands the consolations of order within apparent randomness" Economist "There are no perfect endings and certainly no heroes, just a series of interconnected lives in the city, as strange and morbid as each other but absorbing and beautiful" -- Natsayi Sithole Irish Examiner "Haunting.using economical and precise language, Ogawa conveys intensity of emotion" -- Lucy Popescu Times Literary Supplement "Like her better-known compatriot Haruki Murakami, Ogawa writes stories that float free of any specific culture...Deceptively elegant...written in such lucid, unpretentious language that reading it is like looking into a deep pool of clear water. But even in the clearest waters can lurk currents you don't see until you are in them. Dive into Yoko Ogawa's world...and you find yourself tugged by forces more felt than seen" New York Times Book Review "Revenge provides snapshots of the lives of several characters and their unsettling tales, woven together in a seamless web of elegant narrative. absorbing and beautiful in equal measure" Press Association