Fault Lines

Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It's everything a woman like her could want . . . isn't it?

One rainy night, she meets Kiyoshi. In him, she rediscovers freedom, friendship, a voice, and the neon, electric pulse of the city she has always loved. But the further she falls into their relationship, the clearer it becomes that she is living two lives—and in the end, we can choose only one.

2022, Costa First Novel Award, Short-listed

2022, Desmond Elliott Prize, Long-listed

©2021 Emily Itami (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Reseñas de la Crítica

This delicate and beautiful love story will fill your heart... Short, emotional and very funny, Emily Itami's debut is an unmissable treat for romantics everywhere. (Francesca Brown)

Itami captures the magic of Tokyo and makes it part of the couple's relationship, complete with cherry blossoms, tiny bars and excellent food... it punches above its weight in its themes and the maturity with which it examines them, such as how love intertwines with or comes up against duty, and the feeling of having lost a part of oneself. Although she situates these ideas in a very specific social context, Itami manages to make them universal. (Alys Key)

A lyrical story about love and a fascinating look at the collision of old and new traditions in modern Tokyo. (Sarra Manning)