Adult Audio
Butter.
By Asako Yuzuki. Tr. by Polly Barton. Read by Hanako Footman.
2024. 17hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063236431).
At the mention of Tokyo within the first minutes—two crisp syllables with long o’s—signals (with extreme relief) that British Japanese actor Footman is Japanese literate. Prodigious, prize-winning Yuzuki makes her translated-into-English debut with a cornucopia of multisensory delights, an impressive balance that feeds the intellectual (gender equity, familial/societal expectations), the emotional (friendship, family, love), the physical (body image, sexuality, hunger, satiety), and all the interconnections between. She conflates two real-life events: the 2010 arrest of the so-called Konkatsu [marriage hunting] Killer and the national 2011 butter shortage. Butter, historically, is associated with mid-18th-century Western contact; Europeans were deemed “bata-kusai,” literally, stinks of butter. Butter becomes quite the desired commodity here. Convicted murderer Manako Kajii is trapped in the Tokyo Detention House awaiting retrial. Journalist Rika is determined to get an exclusive interview. Food—especially butter—provides a connection, a means by which Manako slowly insinuates herself into Rika’s daily life. “My case is attracting this much attention precisely because there are so many totally misguided women out there who can’t bear to see me acting so uninhibitedly.” Manako’s provocations, protestations, and predilections send Rika on her own search for truth. “Kajii was in the starring role, and everyone else was the supporting cast.” The exceptional Footman ensures that every player gets their say. —Terry Hong
Daughter of Mine.
By Megan Miranda. Read by Inés del Castillo.
2024. 10.5hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD, $24.99 (9781797168579).
Hazel Sharpe returns to
