Rainbirds

Literature & Fiction

Goenawan, Clarissa

Contemporary

Corsair

Set in an imagined town outside Tokyo, Clarissa Goenawan’s dark, spellbinding literary debut follows a young man’s path to self-discovery in the wake of his sister’s murder. Ren Ishida has nearly completed his graduate degree at Keio University when he receives news of his sister’s violent death. Keiko was stabbed one rainy night on her way home, and there are no leads. Ren heads to Akakawa to conclude his sister’s affairs, failing to understand why she chose to turn her back on the family and Tokyo for this desolate place years ago. But then Ren is offered Keiko’s newly vacant teaching position at a prestigious local cram school and her bizarre former arrangement of free lodging at a wealthy politician’s mansion in exchange for reading to the man’s ailing wife. He accepts both, abandoning Tokyo and his crumbling relationship there in order to better understand his sister’s life and what took place the night of her death. As Ren comes to know the eccentric local figures, from the enigmatic politician who’s boarding him to his fellow teachers and a rebellious, captivating young female student, he delves into his shared childhood with Keiko and what followed. Haunted in his dreams by a young girl who is desperately trying to tell him something, Ren realizes that Keiko Ishida kept many secrets, even from him.

Genre Fiction

Soho Press

Soho Press,Inc

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida

From the critically acclaimed author of Rainbirds comes a novel of tragedy and dark histories set in Japan. University sophomore Miwako Sumida has hanged herself, leaving those closest to her reeling. In the months before her suicide, she was hiding away in a remote mountainside village, but what, or whom, was she running from? Ryusei, a fellow student at Waseda who harbored unrequited feelings for Miwako, begs her best friend Chie to bring him to the remote village where she spent her final days. While they are away, his older sister, Fumi, who took Miwako on as an apprentice in her art studio, receives an unexpected guest at her apartment in Tokyo, distracting her from her fear that Miwako’s death may ruin what is left of her brother’s life. Expanding on the beautifully crafted world of Rainbirds, Clarissa Goenawan gradually pierces through a young woman’s careful façade, unmasking her most painful secrets.

Perfect World Of Miwako Sumida

Product Description 
From the critically acclaimed author of Rainbirds comes a novel of tragedy anddark histories set in Japan.\nUniversity sophomore Miwako Sumida has hanged herself, leaving those closest to her reeling. In the months before her suicide, she was hiding away in a remote mountainside village, but what, or whom, was she running from?\nTo Ryusei, a fellow student at Waseda; Chie, Miwako’s best friend; and Fumi, Ryusei’s older sister, Miwako was more than the blunt, no-nonsense person she projected to the world. Heartbroken, Ryusei begs Chie to take him to the village where Miwako spent her final days. While he is away, Fumi receives an unexpected guest at their shared apartment in Tokyo, increasingly fearful that Miwako’s death may ruin what is left of her brother’s life. Expanding on the beautifully crafted world of 
Rainbirds, Clarissa Goenawan gradually pierces through a young woman’s careful façade, unmasking her most painful secrets. 
 Review 
A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2020Praise for The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida\n“An exquisite tale about the way secrets shape and transform young lives. Behind Goenawan’s crisp, spare prose lies a world of emotional complexity.” \n—Mira T. Lee, award–winning author of 
 Everything Here Is Beautiful\n“A novel in three voices about the inner turmoil—and beauty—that people keep walled behind flawless surfaces.”\n—Tiffany Tsao, author of The Oddfits and The Majesties\n“From the first page of Clarissa Goenawan’s 
The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, we know that the titular Miwako has taken her own life, but we don’t know why. This same question plagues Miwako’s close friends as they grieve her death and search for answers. In this elegant and haunting novel, Goenawan deftly explores the messiness of grief, the pain of lost chances, and the way a life can collapse under the weight of secrets. Miwako and her friends are under my skin, and I’ll be thinking about them for some time.”\n—Kathleen Barber, author of Truth Be Told and Follow Me 
 “Vivid and intriguing—an elegantly cryptic, poetically plotted Murakami-esque whydunit.”\n—Sharlene Teo, award–winning author of Ponti\n“Written in clear, simple prose, Goenawan's novel 
 presents the intriguing mystery of Miwako Sumida through the eyes of three characters who try to piece together her puzzle while struggling with their own questions of meaning and identity. This story about youth, friendship, grief, and trauma invites us through secret doors, ready to discover more."\n—Intan Paramaditha, PEN Award–winning author of Apple and Knife and The Wandering\n“A tremendous examination of sadness . . . a book with heart about the mysteries of the heart.” 
— 
New York Journal of Books\n“Goenawan's style is effortless and emotionally charged . . . 
The Perfect World Of Miwako Sumida is a misconception: nothing is perfect in this book.” 
— 
The Irish Times \n“An immersive, haunting tale . . . Goenawan's prose is transportive in its directness and evocative in its simplicity. In Miwako, she has succeeded in an intricate character study of a perturbed soul.” 
— 
The Strait Times \n“Miwako is a powerful, memorable character . . . The way these characters’ lives intersect makes for a complex and satisfying tale, one that’s sad at the same time as it’s lively and warm.” 
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Book Riot\n“A haunting tale of secrets, inner turmoil, and the search for answers.”\n—Bustle 
“A quietly powerful meditation on the destructive power of secrets, as well as the power of truth to heal even beyond death.” 
— 
The Nerd Daily\n“Goenawan, like any skilled novelist, manages to elegantly reveal both the pain and beauty of unraveling a life after loss. This is only her second novel to date, and she’s already been compared to the wizard of world-building, Haruki Murakami.” 
— 
Lambda Literary\n“A novel that lingers in the mind thanks to its poetic delivery, layering of ideas and an engrossing tale, all led by vivid characters.”\n—Bad Form Magazine 
“If h

United States

Highbridge Co

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida: a novel of modern Japan

Scribe UK

A bewitching novel set in contemporary Japan about the mysterious suicide of a young woman. 
Miwako Sumida is dead. 
Now those closest to her try to piece together the fragments of her life. Ryusei, who always loved Miwako, follows her trail to a remote Japanese village. Chie, her best friend, was the only person to know her true identity ― but is now the time to reveal it? Meanwhile, Fumi, Ryusei’s sister, has her own haunting secret. 
Together, they realise that the young woman they thought they knew had more going on than they could ever have dreamed.

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