A perfect day to be alone A novel

Her name is Chizu--"the chi part means wisdom . . . zu means long life. So, my wisdom is supposed to let me live a long life." At 20, "I still have, like, zero wisdom," she insists. Bypassing university, Chizu is sent to live in Tokyo with 71-year-old distant relative Ginko. Chizu has little choice since Chizu's mother is moving to China, and Chizu doesn't have nearly enough independence-enabling savings. Portraits of Ginko's many dead cats--all posthumously called Cherokee because Ginko remembers only her first kitty's name--line Chizu's room. While Ginko sleeps, Chizu occasionally steals small treasures, a self-comforting "habit of pinching things" she's had since childhood. She sifts through temporary jobs and broken relationships. "I feel like there's no point in being alive," she repeatedly voices. During their four seasons together--Ginko's patient kindness despite Chizu's awkward cruelty is notable--Chizu must figure out how to live, if not happily, then at least bearably, perhaps contentedly. Notably translated by Kirkwood, prolific, prize-winning Aoyama's anglophone debut is a raw examination of contemporary young womanhood that underscores burdensome expectations, disappointing intimacy, and elusive connections.

A young woman spends a year adrift in Aoyama's elegant English-language debut. Surly 20-year-old Chizu Mita moves in with her distant relative, Ginko Ogino, in Tokyo after Chizu's mother leaves for a teaching job in China. Chizu tries to needle the 71-year-old woman for her quirks, such as decorating a room with photos of her deceased cats, but Ginko is unflappable. Chizu gets a job as a kiosk attendant at the nearby rail station and starts dating coworker Fujita, though they don't have much to talk about (their meals are "quiet and peaceful, like the unruffled surface of a lake"). As the year passes, Chizu's mood never thaws, despite Ginko's efforts, such as inviting the young woman on outings with her new boyfriend, a ballroom dancer. Aoyama adeptly conveys Chizu's loneliness and how her unvoiced emotions drive her attempts to pull others into her misery. The result is a notable tale of arrested development. Agent: Li Kangqin, New River Literary. (Feb.)