Diary Of A Void

A woman in Tokyo avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she’s pregnant in this prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about the mother of all deceptions

"Riveting and surreal... Absurdist, amusing and clever, the story brings subtlety and tact to its depiction of workplace discrimination - as well as a touch of magic. Readers will eagerly turn the pages all the way to the bold conclusion."  -  Publishers Weekly

When thirty-four-year-old Ms Shibata gets a new job to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that as the only woman at her new workplace - a manufacturer of cardboard tubes - she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can’t clear away her coworkers’ dirty cups - because she’s pregnant and the smell nauseates her.  The only thing is... Ms Shibata is not pregnant. 

“Diary Of A Void advances one of the most passionate cases I’ve ever read for female interiority, for women’s creative pulse and rich inner life. But even that description fails to capture what Yagi is after: those parts of us, precious and possibly hostile, which flower in darkness, disintegrate when described, and can be compared only to alien life-forms.”  -  Katy Waldman, The New Yorker

Surreal and absurdist, and with a winning matter-of-factness, a light touch, and a refreshing sensitivity to mental health, Diary Of A Void will keep you turning the pages to see just how far Ms. Shibata will carry her deception for the sake of women, and especially working mothers, everywhere.