Ashes of Spring cover art

Ashes of Spring

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Ashes of Spring

By: Mieko Kawakami, Hitomi Yoshio - translator, David Boyd - translator
Narrated by: Sura Siu
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £21.99

Buy Now for £21.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Award-winning Japanese author and poet Mieko Kawakami brings Ashes of Spring, a collection of short stories set in everyday life in Japan just before the pandemic lockdown. Kawakami’s stories straddle the line between delicate and beautiful human connection and the brutality of human nature. This poignant collection vividly captures the world we created shortly before it was put on pause, the characters at the center, painfully real. As we emerge five years later, Kawakami offers a stark reminder of our own fragility.

©2023 Mieko Kawakami (P)2025 Audible, Inc. Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction

Editor reviews

「ONLY FROM audible」とは、Audibleのみが提供・販売するデジタル音声作品です（オリジナル作品や、独自ナレーション作品等）。
All stars
Most relevant
The narrator was convincing and had a pleasant voice. Overall it was interesting but at times slow and repetitive.

Intriguing but slow

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really liked this collection of short stories; they were low-key and deceptively simple on the surface, but imbued with the sense of looming danger, unease and dysphoria that was so characteristic of the beginning of the pandemic. For all its apparent simplicity, I actually thought the writing was very clever- halfway through a story I’d find the tone and perspective had “taken a 180”, almost without my noticing it was happening. Also thought the narrator was perfectly chosen for this collection of stories - clear, moderated and controlled, but never lacking in expression or emotion.

Subtly creepy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
confusing and flat uninteresting monotone didn't even finish it totally boring dull and not for me

confusing and flat

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.