24 Sep / Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
Preface any storytelling format with “traditional,” and audiences will have no expectations of feminist agency. Thankfully, prizewinning Japanese writer Aoko Matsuda imagines reclamation and brilliantly transforms fairy tales and folk legends into empowering exposés, adventures, manifestos.
The 17 stories – adroitly translated by UK-based Polly Barton – are loosely linked via recurring characters who work for the enigmatic Mr. Tei in his not-particularly-discernible company. His name – 汀 in kanji – means “water’s edge,” fitting for a man who exists between the living and the dead. While each story easily entertains, there are standouts. In “The Peony Lanterns,” two mysterious women visit an out-of-work salesman one late evening and ply him with melodramatic stories. The aggressive pair briefly reappear as competition for “Team Sarashina,” about an outstanding 10-women working group (job descriptions unknown) in Mr. Tei’s employ.
In “Silently Burning,” a woman recently dumped by her boyfriend gets a visit from her dead aunt, who killed herself over a lover and demands her niece avoid that fate. In “A Fox’s Life,” the refrain “I’m just a girl” sidelines a woman from achievement until she discovers her own invincible magic in middle age. She reappears to empower others in “A Day Off,” about “a professional dream team” – of woman and toad! – who protect the vulnerable. Matsuda enthralls with both insight and bite.
Review: “Fiction,” Booklist, September 1, 2020
Readers: Adult
Published: 2016 (Japan), 2020 (United States)