Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

A book well worth the read. It's my favourite book by far, a work of literary art, it is the story of Mikage Sakurai's struggle with her Grandmother's death and how becomes close with her Grandmother's friend Yuichi Tanabe, along his stunningly beautiful mother, formally father Eriko.
The series of events occur in the book evoke a sense of nostalgia, tragedy and hope, intersect by sublime Japanese aesthetics, focusing deeply on the poetic art of food. The imagery in this book will have you craving Okayu soup and Sunomono salad for weeks!

The author explores the relationship between Mikage, Yuichi , the people around them, and her love of kitchens and the culinary arts in a decisive way, each part of the novel flows delicately into each other revealing the emotional journey Mikage experiences through her loss of loved ones. I always cry when I read it, but it isn't all sad, so don't worry!

 My favourite author; Banana Yoshimoto's books are charming and odd works of art. along with Kitchen, I also recommend Asleep, N.P. and Lizard in particularly, each containing one or more stories, each giving a window into the everyday life of Japan, but not without a touch of supernatural allure.

"I realized that the world did not exist for my benefit. It followed that the ratio of pleasant and unpleasant things around me would not change. It wasn't up to me. It was clear that the best thing to do was to adopt a sort of muddled cheerfulness."
— Banana Yoshimoto (Kitchen)
Namaste
xoxo