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Breasts and Eggs

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Breasts and Eggs

By: Mieko Kawakami
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Jeena Yi
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About this listen

On a hot summer’s day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: 30-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s teenage daughter, Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess despairing the loss of her looks, has travelled to Tokyo in search of breast-enhancement surgery. She's accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently stopped speaking, finding herself unable to deal with her own changing body and her mother’s self-obsession. Her silence dominates Natsu’s rundown apartment, providing a catalyst for each woman to grapple with their own anxieties and their relationships with one another.

Ten years later, we meet Natsu again. She is now a writer and finds herself on a journey back to her native city, returning to memories of that summer and her family’s past as she faces her own uncertain future.

In Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami paints a radical and intimate portrait of contemporary working-class womanhood in Japan, recounting the heartbreaking journeys of three women in a society where the odds are stacked against them. This is an unforgettable full-length English-language debut from a major new international talent.

©2020 Mieko Kawakami (P)2020 W F Howes Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"Breathtaking." (Haruki Murakami, international best-selling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
All stars
Most relevant
Incredible story, very touching, insightful and so powerfully written and performed. Kawakami leads the reader on a beautiful journey that is so very human, and even more so; Woman.

If you're looking for a book to read/listen to that will make you examine your own experiences and skew your perception of the world around you, I cannot reccomend this enough. 10/10.

A wonderful experience, Must Read

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I don’t like the voice on this audio book. It is too monotonous and hard to listen to and stays at the same intense tone the entire time.

Not a good audio book version

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The first five hours or so are a bit slow, but after that it really gets a lot worse.

Not enough eggs

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I loved every single moment of this book. Wonderfully translated and narrated - a poetic journey of a young woman making her way through life. I look forward to revisiting these books again one day.

A Masterpiece...

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I think this audiobook’s narration is what really worked - I was completely engaged by the main reader, and having multiple narrators made the dialogue really enjoyable.

It’s interesting hearing Japanese phrasing and speech style translated into English, I think it might come across as meandering, dramatic or overly self-deprecating sometimes to a western reader, but I believe this is more of a cultural difference and I really enjoyed how it was translated.

It was a great backdrop, and for people who’ve spent time in Osaka (Minato ward/港区 for example) or Tokyo (around Sangenjaya/三軒茶屋) it’s interesting to hear about local sights and history.

I think this book provided a great look into Japanese society when it comes to family, women and children, and an insight into social issues in Japan such as women’s rights and the falling birth rate.

Excellent Narration!!

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