It’s the picture of a happy household. The Jimbas are gathered around the table, all thirteen of them, smiling and talking cheerfully over dinner. The maid enters the scene and the mother promptly offers compliments for her hard day’s work. The children give her approving glances, their expressions marked with appreciation, their faces free of the hostility that a live-in helper might fear from her little masters.
But the maid knows it’s just appearances. She knows that beneath the amiable guise is a bitterness as acrid as the stench she had painfully scrubbed off their dwelling. They resent her. She is an outsider who had entered their lives and discovered all the dirt they had to hide. She made them see their filthy existence and now they curse her with vile contempt. The eldest son thinks of violating the virgin just to make her feel unclean.
And the maid knows it all, for she hears their every thought.
Nanase holed herself up in her room. This could turn into a nightly routine, she thought. The family seems to have been carrying on this way every night for years. Could you call this dinner? Weren’t they just feasting in hatred and anger?
In this intriguing novel, Yasutaka Tsutsui imagines the workings of the troubled mind through the invasive consciousness of an innocent girl. As the young psychic Nanase moves from one family to another—working at their homes only long enough to avoid discovery—she explores the limits of her disquieting ability and comes to learn the darker realms of telepathy. With creeping eeriness and striking language, The Maid presents a perturbing atmosphere unlikely to escape the reader’s senses.
The Maid
Translated by Adam Kabat
Alma Books (2010)
Thanks to Elisabetta Minervini of Alma Books for sending me a copy of this book. More works by award-winning author Yasutaka Tsutsui can be found at their website.
The Japanese Literature Challenge 4 is coming soon, so please stay tuned at Dolce Bellezza. For this year’s event, I plan to review Tsutsui’s more popular novel Paprika, of which a copy was generously given to me by the lovely Tanabata of In Spring it is the Dawn.
This book looks really interesting. Great review!
Whoa, eerie. So, is the position of the book that the maid is actually psychic, or that she’s paranoid & only believes that she’s hearing these thoughts? Or is there some ambiguity? Sounds intriguing!
This sounds like a very interesting book-I am building up a collection of books to read for JL4 and this sounds like a good candidate–
LOL I read word psychic psychotic the first time and I went back because it didn’t fit! I’m in Japanese book slump recently. I may just push all the Japanese books for later during JLC.
Wow, this sounds interesting and certainly something that would resonate with those of us who live with household help. Is it available in Manila or is it another free copy?
Mrs B-that is an interesting point-there is a good change most Manila based book bloggers have full time household help–
Every family’s worst nightmare–a housekeeper who knows all of their secrets!
Is this a new template, Mark David?
Sorry for the late reply everyone!
@Jenn: Thanks! It’s the first book I finished in just three days. Granted it’s just a little over 200 pages, but it is quite of a page-turner.
@Emily: Haha! I’m going to spoil it for you (but only because you’ll find it out from the blurb, hehe) and say right now that she is indeed psychic. Are you joining JLC4? This can be a quick addition to your list
@Mel: Oh yeah, this will be an interesting read for JLC4. I’ll be reading Paprika, which I think I’ll enjoy even more.
@Mee: LOL! I can’t wait for JLC because I already have a few Japanese books I want to review this year. Lately I’ve been enjoying more American and Spanish lit so JLC would be a nice change in flavor
@Mrs.B.: As Mel said, you’re certainly right about that. Perhaps it’ll feel more creepier for many Filipinos then. But I should add that for the most part, it’s the households she works for that are creepy rather than her... By the way, so glad to hear you’re reading Fiesta along with Claire and I
@Suko: Haha, yeah! Uhm, I tend to do tiny tweaks to the layout every week. I always plan to really spend time on it on weekdays but when I’m at home I just feel too lazy to still be working on the computer. So I just do it bit by bit, hehe. Eventually it’ll all come together... Thanks for dropping by
@Mrs.B.: Astrid, I forgot to answer your question about the book’s availability... I haven’t seen it in shops yet but I’m guessing it will be available since I’ve seen a copy of Paprika before in National Bookstore. That other book by Tsutsui is also published by Alma Books. And yes, the copy I read was sent to me for free