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Her fiction invites reflection, blending warmth with an undercurrent of melancholy that enriches each story.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-by-hiromi-kawakami-9781803512358","title":"Under the Eye of the Big Bird","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of the Mothers. Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. 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One day, by chance, she runs into her old friend Mr Takaoka, who offers friendship, love, and an unusual escape: he teaches her the trick of living inside her dreams.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so, each night, she sinks into another life: first as a high-ranking courtesan in the 17th century, and then as a serving lady to a princess in the late Middle Ages. 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Infused with humour, sex, and the universal search for love and beauty, it presents a world where the laws of time and space, and even species boundaries, don't apply.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMeet a shape-shifting con man, a goddess who uses sex to control her followers, an elderly man possessed by a fox spirit, a woman who falls in love with her 400-year-old ancestor, a kitchen god with three faces in a weasel-infested apartment block, moles who provide underground sanctuary for humans who have lost the will to live, a man nurtured through life by his seven extraordinary sisters, and a woman who is handed from husband to husband until she is finally able to return to the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Unique and attention-grabbing,\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eDragon Palace\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e is a collection of open-ended fantasy tales about thwarted love and lost opportunities.’ – Eileen Gonzalez,\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eForeword Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711322476780,"sku":"9781737625353","price":53.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18326793482806.jpg?v=1754210342"},{"product_id":"the-third-love-by-hiromi-kawakami-9781803511375","title":"The Third Love","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving married her childhood sweetheart, Riko now finds herself trapped in a relationship that has been soured by infidelity. One day, by chance, she runs into her old friend Mr Takaoka, who offers friendship, love, and an unusual escape: he teaches her the trick of living inside her dreams.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so, each night, she sinks into another life: first as a high-ranking courtesan in the 17th century, and then as a serving lady to a princess in the late Middle Ages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs she experiences desire and heartbreak in the past, Riko comes to reconsider her life as a 21st century woman, as a wife, as a mother, and as a lover. 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He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass—from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms—Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStrange Weather in Tokyo\u003c\/em\u003e is perfectly constructed, warmly funny and deeply moving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis edition contains the bonus story, 'Parade', which imagines an ordinary day in the lives of this unusual couple.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A dream-like spell of a novel, full of humour, sadness, warmth and tremendous subtlety. I read this in one sitting and I think it will haunt me for a long time' \u003c\/em\u003eAmy Sackville\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Kawakami transforms an affecting cross-generational romance into an exquisite poem of time and mutability.... Delicate and haunting' \u003c\/em\u003eIndependent\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833499603180,"sku":"9781803510170","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3116003482830.jpg?v=1758463945"},{"product_id":"strange-weather-in-tokyo-by-hiromi-kawakami-9781803513140","title":"Strange Weather in Tokyo","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when, one night, she happens to meet her former high school teacher, \"Sensei,\" in a bar. 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It is a heart-warming and utterly charming novel from one of Japan's most celebrated contemporary novelists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47341349830892,"sku":"9781803513164","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3145943482830.jpg?v=1772190058"},{"product_id":"record-of-a-night-too-brief-by-hiromi-kawakami-9781805331407","title":"Record of a Night Too Brief","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Akutagawa Prize-winning stories from one of the most highly regarded and provocative contemporary Japanese writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe nightingale sang again. The plates on the table gleamed, and the food, in all its ceaseless variety, breathed, glossy and bright. The night had only just begun.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn these three haunting and lyrical stories, three young women experience unsettling loss and romance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a dreamlike adventure, one woman travels through an apparently unending night with a porcelain girlfriend, mist-monsters, and villainous monkeys; a sister mourns her invisible brother whom only she can still see, while the rest of her family welcome his would-be wife into their home; and an accident with a snake leads a shop girl to discover the snake-families everyone else seems to be concealing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSensual, yearning, and filled with the tricks of memory and grief, \u003cem\u003eRecord of a Night Too Brief\u003c\/em\u003e is an atmospheric trio of unforgettable tales.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHiromi Kawakami was born in Tokyo in 1958. 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