Grotesque

An unconvential and unique crime thriller with an outrageous, unattractive, anarchic narrator showing a new darker side to the lives of women in Japan.Two prostitutes are murdered in Tokyo.Twenty years previously both women were educated at the same elite school for young ladies, and had seemingly promising futures ahead of them.But in a world of dark desire and vicious ambition, for both women, prostitution meant power. Grotesque is a masterful and haunting thriller, a chilling exploration of women's secret lives in modern day Japan.

“Delves so deep beyond its own shock horror premise that much contemporary crime fiction looks like cheap, exploitative rubbish by comparison .... an utterly absorbing novel that gives as vivid - and disturbing - a picture of contemporary Japan as you could imagine”

Delves so deep beyond its own shock horror premise that much contemporary crime fiction looks like cheap, exploitative rubbish by comparison ....an utterly absorbing novel that gives as vivid - and disturbing - a picture of contemporary Japan as you could imagine Metro
Suicide, paedophilia, incest and murder combine with subtle touches of humour to form a story that will leave you questioning your own morality Dazed and Confused
This is a rich, complex read. Be prepared for a book utterly unlike anything we are used to in crime fiction Independent
It is one of the most unexpected and playful novels to emerge from Japan in recent years...a triumph. In its boldness and originality, it broadens our sense of what modern Japanese fiction can be Telegraph
Unclichéd contemporary noir at its most absorbing and relevant...a masterful and haunting achievement Tangledweb.co.uk

Natsuo Kirino, born in 1951, is the author of sixteen novels, four short-story collections, and an essay collection. She is the recipient of six of Japan's premier literary awards, including the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Out, and the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature for Grotesque. Her work has been translated into nineteen languages, and several of her books have been turned into movies. Out was the first of her novels to appear in English and was nominated for an Edgar Award. She lives in Tokyo.

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