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Available for over a year

Our Aberystwyth based book lovers discuss Hooked, an unsettling novel by Asako Yuzuki. Set in Tokyo, the novel focuses on the obsessive relationship between a lonely trading company employee and an unconventional housewife. An exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan. Eriko's life appears perfect – devoted parents, spotless apartment and a job in the seafood division of one of Japan's largest trading companies. Her latest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market, is characteristically ambitious. But beneath her flawless surface she is wracked by loneliness. Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife, Shoko. Shoko’s posts about eating convenience store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanese housewife’s manicured lifestyle. When Eriko tracks Shoko down at her favourite restaurant and befriends her, Shoko is at first charmed by her new companion. But as Eriko’s obsession with Shoko deepens, her increasingly possessive behaviour starts to raise suspicion. As Eriko’s carefully laid plans begin to unravel, how far will she go to hold on to the best friend that she’s ever had? Presented by Hannah Loy Readers: Tom O'Malley, Melanie Owen, Sairah Ahsan, Sally Owen Produced by Read the Room Productions