Territory of Light

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What to expect

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima, read by Rina Takasaki.

Territory of Light is the radiant story of a young woman, living alone in Tokyo with her two-year-old daughter. Its twelve chapters follow the first year of the narrator’s separation from her husband. The novel is full of light, sometimes comforting and sometimes dangerous: sunlight streaming through windows, dappled light in the park, distant fireworks, dazzling floodwater, de-saturated streetlamps and mysterious explosions. The delicate prose is beautifully patterned: the cumulative effect is disarmingly powerful and bright after-images remain in your mind for a long time afterwards.

Critics Review

  • Spiky, atmospheric and intimate, filled with moments of strangeness that linger in the mind

    The Spectator

  • In this short, powerful novel lurk the joy and guilt of single parents everywhere

    Guardian

  • This exquisite and poignant novel . . . will resonate with single mothers always and everywhere

    Shami Chakrabarti

  • An extraordinary book . . . cool analytic intelligence propelled by sudden eruptions of passion

    Lisa Appignanesi

  • An astonishing and exquisite masterpiece about love, motherhood, female independence, and the restoration of a damaged family. Yuko Tsushima is an unforgettable name alongside great masters like Virginia Woolf, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout

    J. M. Lee, author of The Investigation

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