Buy this title

Mongrel

By Hanako Footman

An exquisite debut novel weaving together the voices of three young women in Japan and the UK as the threads of their lives twist and entangle in unexpected ways.

Details

Adult fiction
Published: 08/02/2024
ISBN number: 9781804440438
Price: £16.99
Length: 352 pages
Edition: Hardback
Genre: Coming of age

Mongrel

By Hanako Footman

Buy this title

Hardback
Audio

Details

Adult fiction
Published: 08/02/2024
ISBN number: 9781804440438
Price: £16.99
Length: 352 pages
Edition: Hardback
Genre: Coming of age

An exquisite debut novel weaving together the voices of three young women in Japan and the UK as the threads of their lives twist and entangle in unexpected ways.

Sensational books transcend the very form they elevate by delivering a purity of thought with seeming effortlessness and here, in Mongrel, Hanako Footman conveys the truth of the world in lucid but spinning, transcendental sentences. It's so beautiful that I became lost in it, and I can't find the right words because they are all in this book. Simply, it must be read.
Lisa Taddeo, author of THREE WOMEN and ANIMAL
Dark, sometimes tender, sometimes visceral, Mongrel draws on the complications that arise from power imbalance and cultural collisions. Footman draws us into the devastating worlds of three young women, illuminating their stories with her simple, clear words, while unflinchingly exploring the way identity and belonging shapes them. A beautiful debut.
Helena Lee, editor of EAST SIDE VOICES
Mongrel is a stunning read. A brilliant explosion of writing and storytelling with one of the most unique and powerful voices I've come across in an author. This feels like reading an Oscar-winning film.
Aisling Bea

Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing not only her heritage but her growing desire for her best friend Fran.

Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Far from home and in an unfamiliar city, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.

Haruka attempts to navigate Tokyo’s nightlife and all of its many vices, working as a hostess in the city’s sex district. She grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her, until finally one of those secrets comes to light . . .

Shifting between three intertwining narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of desire, isolation, belonging and ultimately, hope.

Authors

Hanako Footman

Hanako Footman is a British-Japanese actor and author living in London.
Mongrel is her debut novel.