True to her tradition of publishing an annual novel at the end of cherry blossom season in Japan, Aki Shimazaki presents Mukudori, the second installment of her fifth pentalogy, which began with Ajisai. Published by Actes Sud (176 pages, €16,50), this short and focused novel revisits Matsuko Okita, a woman in her sixties, who is visiting the National Employment Agency for the second time in her life, thirty-eight years after her first visit. The department store she and her husband Atsushi ran together has just gone bankrupt. Atsushi's health is failing. At over sixty, while her friends are already enjoying their retirement, Matsuko must provide for her and her husband alone.
An unexpected encounter, a language of formidable precision
It is in this context that Matsuko meets Matsuo, a man passionate about ornithology. This stranger gently insinuates himself into the lives of the isolated elderly couple and transforms their daily routine, becoming a companion in precious moments, a true friend. Around this trio unfold the themes dear to the Japanese-born author, who has lived in Montreal for thirty-five years: old age, the strength of bonds, dignity in the face of tragedy, death, and what survives it. Aki Shimazaki's precise, unadorned language, remarkably effective according to Lire Magazine, transforms this concise novel into a poetic meditation on what it means to grow old together, to overcome adversity, and to remain open to the beauty of the world, even in the flight of a starling. Essential reading.
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