Momoko Hidaka's Last Journey

At twenty-four, Momoko moved to the big city, Tokyo, to escape the constraints of her rural life. And without realizing it, she followed the path society dictated to her: marriage, house, children.

Today, seventy-four years old, Momoko is alone. She has all the time in the world to think. Of the dreams she once had, of love, of solitude. Of old age and death. And as the voices of her loved ones who have left her awaken within her, she comes to wonder what happiness truly is.

In this debut novel with a strong style, Chisako Wakatake subtly and humorously depicts the meanderings of memory, between disappointed aspirations and moments of happiness.

- AKUTAGAWA PRIZE 2018 • BUNGEI PRIZE 2017

- LIBERATURPREIS 2022

Born in 1954, Chisako Wakatake studied at Iwate University. She worked as a teacher before marrying and becoming a homemaker. It was only after her husband's death that she began writing full-time, drawing from her own experience.

With Momoko Hidaka's Last Journey, she made a spectacular entry into the Japanese literary scene and won several awards. Sold in one million copies in Japan, this novel has since been translated into eleven languages.