Told in two parts, Mitsuyo Kakuta's second novel in English compellingly depicts a woman's love for the child she has kidnapped - and what it is like to be that child after she is returned to her real family at the age of four.
An award-winning literary suspense novel from one of Japan's most popular writers
Praise from the Japanese press:
"Extremely successful as a work of suspense . . . It has a tension-packed, page-turning plot." --Yomiuri Shimbun
"A masterpiece that succeeds in quietly depicting the pain and joy of life." --Nihon Keizai Shimbun
"A work that makes us ponder the nature of motherhood." --Sunday Mainichi