Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (Caribbean and Canadian Region)!

Co-winner of the Canada-Japan Book Award!

Hiromi Goto’s debut novel has become a Canadian classic. It is a powerful narrative of three generations of Japanese Canadian women on the Canadian prairies.

Funny, scandalous, and melancholic, this superlative narrative is filled with echoes and retellings, memories and Japanese folk tales. From The Tale of Genji to the Calgary Stampede, from sharing of recipes to hitchhiking the Trans-Canada highway, it weaves a story that slides between histories, countries, and desire. It is a timeless exploration of immigration and belonging.

This twentieth anniversary reprinting of the landmark novel includes an Afterword by Larissa Lai (When Fox is a Thousand, Salt Fish Girl) and an interview with the author.