Diary of a void by Emi Yagi

 ​"Diary of a void" by Emi Yagi - Change of perspective!

This book is published by Harvill Secker in 2022 and has 224 pages. The book is translated from Japanese to English by David Boyd and Lucy North. 

Shibata, 34, is the only female working in male dominated office at the paper core manufacturer. She is relegated to menial tasks no one wants to do like coffee making, washing the cups, changing the printer cartridge, distributing sweets etc. Long hours, unimportant work and uninteresting single life leads to her declaring one day that she is pregnant, when she isn’t.

What changes after she declares her pregnancy? How long can she put up this charade?

The approach of everyone changes, one because she is pregnant, and two because she isn’t married. People start to notice her, ask about her welfare, share the menial jobs. She starts to go home early, starts to enjoy life. She starts finding little pleasures of life like shopping for vegetables, bubble bath etc. She starts eating better and more. Maternity badge on her bag gets her seat on the train. She also joins a group of expecting moms. But then lie and reality starts to merge. 

Author transforms from lore of pregnancy to real pregnancy seamlessly. At one point the reader starts to doubt if the pregnancy is real or a lie. That’s the exact state of Shibata’s mind.

The book is subtle. At times it takes you through the daily chores of an expectant mother. Pretty routine for an expectant mother but special for Shibata.

Somehow, I was reading this book for more than three months. Due to discontinuous reading, probably, I didn’t enjoy it much.

The chapters are titled as numbers of weeks of pregnancy.

There are some tongue in cheek puns like ‘cutting-edge technology’ when cutting a box open. 

This book won Dazai Osama prize for best debut work of fiction. 

Why did I read this book? Blurb.

What I didn't like? Pace. 

What did I like? Fact-fiction confluence.

Read if you like the review.