The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the critically acclaimed author of Rainbirds comes a novel of tragedy and dark histories set in Japan.
University sophomore Miwako Sumida has hanged herself, leaving those closest to her reeling. In the months before her suicide, she was hiding away in a remote mountainside village, but what, or whom, was she running from?
Ryusei, a fellow student at Waseda who harbored unrequited feelings for Miwako, begs her best friend Chie to bring him to the remote village where she spent her final days. While they are away, his older sister, Fumi, who took Miwako on as an apprentice in her art studio, receives an unexpected guest at her apartment in Tokyo, distracting her from her fear that Miwako’s death may ruin what is left of her brother’s life.
Expanding on the beautifully crafted world of Rainbirds, Clarissa Goenawan gradually pierces through a young woman’s careful façade, unmasking her most painful secrets.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Goenawan's tender and tragic follow-up to Rainbirds follows a group of college friends grasping for answers after the death of their friend. Ryusei Yanagi first meets fellow student Miwako Sumida at a restaurant near the Waseda university campus in Tokyo. They bond while browsing in an English-language bookstore, reading together in their university's library, and assisting Ryusei's sister, Fumi, at her painting studio. Ryusei is drawn by Miwako's candor ("You seem pretty frivolous to me," she tells him after admitting surprise at his deeper interests), but the two stay in romantic limbo as Miwako keeps Ryusei at a distance. Goenawan conveys Miwako's story in three parts, alternating from the gentle and heartbroken Ryusei, artist and late-night hostess Fumi, and wistful and anxious best friend Chie, who accompanies Miwako to get an abortion without knowing who had gotten her pregnant, having sensed that her friend had been raped. After Miwako goes to Kitsuyama, a remote Japanese village, and commits suicide, Ryusei and Chie follow a trail of clues from letters and diary entries to understand why she killed herself. Goenawan's luminous prose captures the deep emotions of her characters as they grapple with questions about family history, gender, and sexuality. The tug of Miwako's strange, troubled spirit will wrench readers from the beginning.
