Dead-End Memories: Stories

First published in Japan in 2003 & never before published in the United States, Dead-End Memories collects the stories of five women who, following sudden & painful events, quietly discover their ways back to recovery.Among the women we meet in Dead-End Memories is one betrayed by her fiancé who finds a perfect refuge in an apartment above her uncle’s bar while seeking the real meaning of happiness. In “House of Ghosts,” the daughter of a yoshoku restaurant owner encounters the ghosts of a sweet elderly couple who haven’t yet realized that they’ve been dead for years. In “Tomo-chan’s Happiness,” an office worker who is a victim of sexual assault finally catches sight of the hope of romance.

Yoshimoto’s gentle, effortless prose reminds us that one true miracle can be as simple as having someone to share a meal with, & that happiness is always within us if only we take a moment to pause & reflect. Discover this collection of what Yoshimoto herself calls the “most precious work of my writing career.”

Banana Yashimoto was born in Tokyo in 1964 and graduated from Nihon University, College of Art, where she majored in literature. She debuted as a writer in 1987 with Kitchen, a novella that won her the 6th Kaien Newcomers' Literary Prize.

Asa Yoneda was born in Osaka & translates from Japanese. She currently lives in Bristol.