Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

This novel, translated from Japanese, follows Natsuko, a writer in Tokyo who is uncertain of the future, her freedom, and motherhood. Does the natural imperative of the female body –breasts and eggs – provide Natsuko with her freedom, or is there another type of freedom she is looking for?

Throughout the novel we see other women around Natsuko: her own mother, the embodiment of working-class womanhood, instills ideas of self-sacrifice and motherhood in Natsuko, her sister Makiko who is so disenchanted by her aging body and wants to get her breasts done, her niece Midoriko who is terrified of her developing body and therefore never speaks, her friend Rie who seems to feel imprisoned and duty bound by her family life, Rika who loves her single motherhood, and Sengawa who is devoted to her work. In particular, Yuriko and Aizawa who are born to mothers who have used sperm banks, and the ways in which these experiences have affected them. 

All of these characters and stories work to paint an intimate portrait of motherhood, birth, the female body, freedom, and the difficult choices that many women face. 

Happy Reading!

Emma

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