Butter
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4.1 • 12 Ratings
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- €4.49
Publisher Description
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SENSATION
WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER AWARD 2025
A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK
‘A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘A cult phenomenon’ iNEWS
‘Took the literary world by storm’ BBC
‘A killer Japanese novel’ THE TIMES
'I have been glued to Butter’ NIGEL SLATER
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story, and translated by Polly Barton.
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body. Might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, 'The Konkatsu Killer', Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it’ OBSERVER
‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ DAILY MAIL
‘I really enjoyed it’ MEERA SYAL, on BBC Between the Covers
'Compelling, delightfully weird' PANDORA SYKES
'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY
'You’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time’ STYLIST
‘Nothing short of ingenious’ iNEWS
‘Ambitious and unsettling’ GUARDIAN
'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP
'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The mouthwatering—and plentiful—descriptions of sumptuous meals and ingredients alone would be enough to keep you craving more of Butter from Japanese novelist Asako Yuzuki, but that’s not all there is to sink your teeth into. Loosely based on the story of a real-life serial killer, Butter zooms in on a journalist, Rika, and her attempts to make contact with Manako Kajii, the woman at the centre of a sensational murder trial that has recently gripped Japan. On the advice of her newly married best friend, Reiko—whose prowess in the kitchen eclipses Rika’s own—Rika’s next interview request panders to Manako’s love of food and she is granted permission to visit her in jail. From there, the narrative follows Rika’s attempt to balance the danger of her growing obsession with Manako with her desire to uncover the truth behind the murders, all the while seeing the world from the startling new perspective her subject has opened her eyes to. Yuzuki interrogates notions of femininity, desire, sexual politics and body image in a way that is specific to Japan (but depressingly universal to many of the world’s cultures) with particular focus on how Manako’s weight and appetite for indulgence impact public perception of her character and, consequently, her culpability in the deaths of three of her former lovers. Rich in flavoursome detail, Butter is page-turning food for thought.
Customer Reviews
A digestive challenge with the highest reward
It was tough to get into at the first couple chapters, but once I did, similar to a dish that takes its time to develop richness in flavour, I was devouring in obsessive quantities and asking for seconds. A book I’d find myself reading again someday, knowing it’ll show me something entirely new.