Picnic in the Storm

'A remarkable writer . . . Yukiko Motoya's shivery, murmuring voice will never completely leave you' Financial Times

A housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique, which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking commuters struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon, until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A saleswoman in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won't come out of the fitting room, and who may or may not be human. A newlywed notices that her spouse's features are beginning to slide around his face to match her own.

In these eleven stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien?and find a doorway to liberation. The English-language debut of one of Japan's most fearlessly inventive young writers.


'Incredibly enjoyable stories' Eithne Farry, Daily Mail


'Motoya has an extraordinary imagination and a clear, direct writing style which makes this offbeat collection a rare treat' Martha Alexander, Evening Standard


'This is thrilling work, and alongside Mieko Kawakami and Sayaka Murata, it seems clear there's a movement of sorts coming from Japan' John Freeman, Literary Hub