Mongrel
'So beautiful ... It must be read' - LISA TADDEO
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4.2 • 39 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
THE DEBUT NOVEL THAT'LL STEAL YOUR HEART
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
'So beautiful ... Simply, it must be read' LISA TADDEO
'This feels like reading an Oscar-winning film' AISLING BEA
'Heart-shatteringly visceral and precise' WIZ WHARTON
'Compulsive, engrossing, and gorgeous ... Read it now' STEPHANIE SCOTT
Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing not only her heritage but her growing desire for her best friend Fran.
Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Far from home and in an unfamiliar city, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.
Haruka attempts to navigate Tokyo's nightlife and all of its many vices, working as a hostess in the city's sex district. She grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her, until finally one of those secrets comes to light . . .
Shifting between three intertwining narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of desire, isolation, belonging and ultimately, hope.
5 Star Reader Reviews: 'Utterly captivating' | 'Achingly real' | 'Moving and unforgettable' | 'Stunning yet heartbreaking' | 'Devastating, powerful' | 'Easily one of the best books I've ever read'
Customer Reviews
A perfect book.
I’m ruined after reading this. These characters will live within me for a long long time.
A misandrist book
To start with, I found the novel an interesting read with its portrait of two woman, both living in the west with Japanese roots. (The third woman is being introduced a lot later) Especially Yuki with her musical talent seemed convincing.
However, with time it became clear, that every man in the novel is either selfish, arrogant, deceitful, an alcoholic, unfaithful, brutal or filthy rich, never to be redeemed.Men in this book do not have an inner life nor any history, let alone a conscience. Woman on the other hand are hard done by through these men, but they are allowed to exploit men’s resources(accommodation, passport, protection, luxurious life-style) without feeling two-faced in the slightest. Woman are always honorable here, suffering, longing.
Apart from this obvious gender-injustice and misandry, I also found some of the writing exaggerated and blunt; I could have maybe tolerated it better with some degree of subtlety.
At the two-third mark, I had to abandon it.
Maybe the author could try again, creating a world entirely without men.