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The Dilemmas of Working Women
- Author
- Fumio Yamamoto
- Narrator
- Yuriri Naka
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Publish Date
- 3 July 2025
- Run Time
- 8 hours 15 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'Witty, wise and thought-provoking' Cecelia Ahern
'Crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence' Lisa Owens, author of Not Working
'So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later' Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as This
Izumi needs to get a job.
Haruka needs to stop talking about how she once had cancer.
Katō needs to get through a shift at the convenience store without being harassed.
Mito needs to break up with her boyfriend - or marry him.
Sumie just needs somewhere to live.
In this classic Japanese bestseller, published in English twenty-five years after it took Japan by storm, the lives of five ordinary women are depicted with irresistible humour and searing emotional insight.
Critics Review
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Fumio Yamamoto is one of my greatest inspirations. She was a writer who changed the entire Japanese literary world, but always stuck by her female readership. Her work celebrated the lived experiences of Japanese women in all their complexity. One of my deepest sorrows is that I'll never be able to read a new story of hers again.
Asako Yuzuki, author of Butter
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Off-beat, witty, wise and thought-provoking, these darkly comic stories portray five unique women as they deal with the societal pressures that come with being a woman in their world
Cecelia Ahern
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What an engaging, witty, and unique book. So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later. What a win for the English language that we're finally getting to experience Yamamoto's inimitable voice
Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as This
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An offbeat, bold and subversive portrait of contemporary womanhood, full of brilliantly unconventional characters. The Dilemmas of Working Women crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence
Lisa Owens, author of Not Working
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The Dilemmas of Working Women is a delight. With acute insight and sly humour, Fumio Yamamoto depicts the lives of modern Japanese women in all their complexity. The characters, in their quirky idiosyncrasies, are deeply familiar; their stoicisms heartbreaking
Yoon Choi, author of Skinship
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Here are people caught between loss and regeneration. The struggles of their forlorn hearts are depicted with a light, graceful touch. There will come a point in all of our lives when we will need Fumio Yamamoto's writing
Saou Ichikawa, author of Hunchback
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An audacious five-story collection populated by women bluntly eschewing expectations ... Yamamoto's empathic characters - even a quarter-century after their debut - remain timeless figures of strength and resilience
Shelf Awareness
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This award-winning best-seller captures the modern woman in a dark, unflinching portrait
Booklist
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Funny, at times self-deprecating, and unafraid to lean into the darkness, Fumio Yamamoto's masterpiece is sure to find resonance with readers today
Chicago Review of Books
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Now offered in translation for the first time, this collection featuring women navigating societal expectations (and their small rebellions) is a classic. The author brings complexity, emotion, and a delicate touch to extremely relatable characters.
Boston Globe
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Details
- Author
- Fumio Yamamoto
- Narrator
- Yuriri Naka
- Duration
- 8 hours 15 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 July 2025
- ISBN
- 9781405566070
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Genre
- Fiction: literary and general non-genre
Synopsis
The classic Japanese bestseller published in English for the very first time - a darkly funny and relatable book portraying the lives of five women'Witty, wise and thought-provoking' Cecelia Ahern'Crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence' Lisa Owens, author of Not Working'So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later' Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as ThisIzumi needs to get a job. Haruka needs to stop talking about how she once had cancer. Katō needs to get through a shift at the convenience store without being harassed. Mito needs to break up with her boyfriend - or marry him. Sumie just needs somewhere to live. In this classic Japanese bestseller, published in English twenty-five years after it took Japan by storm, the lives of five ordinary women are depicted with irresistible humour and searing emotional insight.
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