The Dilemmas of Working Women

Off-beat, witty, wise and thought-provoking, these darkly comic stories portray five unique women as they deal with the societal pressures that come with being a woman in their world – Cecelia AhernWhat an engaging, witty, and unique book. So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later. What a win for the English language that we’re finally getting to experience Yamamoto’s inimitable voice – Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as ThisAn offbeat, bold and subversive portrait of contemporary womanhood, full of brilliantly unconventional characters. The Dilemmas of Working Women crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence – Lisa Owens, author of Not WorkingThe Dilemmas of Working Women is a delight. With acute insight and sly humour, Fumio Yamamoto depicts the lives of modern Japanese women in all their complexity. The characters, in their quirky idiosyncrasies, are deeply familiar; their stoicisms heartbreaking – Yoon Choi, author of SkinshipHere are people caught between loss and regeneration. The struggles of their forlorn hearts are depicted with a light, graceful touch. There will come a point in all of our lives when we will need Fumio Yamamoto’s writing – Saou Ichikawa, author of HunchbackAn audacious five-story collection populated by women bluntly eschewing expectations … Yamamoto’s empathic characters - even a quarter-century after their debut - remain timeless figures of strength and resilience * Shelf Awareness *This award-winning best-seller captures the modern woman in a dark, unflinching portrait * Booklist *Funny, at times self-deprecating, and unafraid to lean into the darkness, Fumio Yamamoto’s masterpiece is sure to find resonance with readers today * Chicago Review of Books *Now offered in translation for the first time, this collection featuring women navigating societal expectations (and their small rebellions) is a classic. The author brings complexity, emotion, and a delicate touch to extremely relatable characters. * Boston Globe *

Fumio Yamamoto burst onto the Japanese literary scene in 1999 when she won the Yoshikawa Eiji New Writer’s Prize for her book Loveaholic. Her follow-up in 2000, The Dilemmas of Working Women, won the prestigious Naoki Prize in Literature, before becoming a bestselling phenomenon. Her final novel, Rotations and Revolutions, was awarded both the Shimasei Literature Prize and the Chuo Koron Prize in 2021, and her journals, offering an intimate portrait of dealing with depression and then with pancreatic cancer, also became hugely popular. Yamamoto passed away in 2021 in Karuizawa, Nagano.

Brian Bergstrom is a lecturer and translator who has lived in Chicago, Kyoto, and Yokohama, and is currently based in Montreal. His most recent translations include Sunrise: Radiant Stories by award-winning author Erika Kobayashi and Slow Down by Marxist philosopher Kohei Saito.

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