Description

A tale of passion and romance between a Japanese schoolteacher and a doglike man, from the prize-winning author of The Last Children of Tokyo

Mitsuko, a schoolteacher at the Kitamura school, inspires both rumour and curiosity in the parents of her students because of her unconventional manner – not least when she tells the children the fable of a princess whose hand in marriage is promised to a dog she is intimate with. And when a young man with sharp canine teeth turns up at the schoolteacher’s home and declares he’s ‘here to stay’, the romantic – and sexual – relationship that develops intrigues the community, some of whom have suspicions about the man’s identity and motives.

Masterfully turning the rules of folklore and fable on their head, The Bridegroom Was a Dog is a disarming and unforgettable modern classic.

Publisher Review

Her masterpiece * New York Times * Brilliant, shimmering strangeness -- Rivka Galchen Tawada writes beautifully about unbearable things -- Sara Baume Every Yoko Tawada novel pulls the ground out from under us, but gives us new senses in return -- Madeleine Thien Tawada is, far and away, one of my favourite writers working today - thrilling, discomforting, uncannily beautiful, like no one you have ever read before -- Laura van den Berg