A PERFECT DAY TO BE ALONE

Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781529427684
Number of pages: 160
Weight: 128 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 18 mm
Format: Paperback

A love letter to Tokyo as it can only be seen through the eyes of a young woman setting out in the world.

'It was raining when I arrived at the house. The walls of my room were lined with cat photos, set in fancy frames just below the ceiling.'

When her mother emigrates to China for work, 21-old Chizu moves in with 71-year-old Ginko, an eccentric distant relative, taking a room in her ramshackle Tokyo home, with its two resident cats and the persistent rattle of passing trains.

Living their lives in imperfect symmetry, they establish an uneasy alliance, stress tested by Chizu's flashes of youthful spite. As the four seasons pass, Chizu navigates a series of tedious part-time jobs and unsatisfying relationships, before eventually finding her feet and salvaging a fierce independence from her solitude.