The Cat and the City
In Tokyo - one of the world's largest megacities - a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways. But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers - from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo's denizens, drawing them ever closer.
For those reading on a Kindle there are several pages of cartoons towards the end of the book, you need very good eye sight. Fortunately I was able to download and open with ADE to be able to read those on my PC. They are integral to the story and I had to go back and read them, which was slightly annoying.
The Japanese seem very fond of their cats, they seem to have almost god like status, I don't disapprove!
What seems like a collection of short stories is more than that. They are connected, not only by the Calico cat but that the characters are connected, some more so than others.
I liked the insight into Japanese life, the formality and rules, even when you are angry with someone and even when it is your parents. There was some very small snippets of how the Chinese characters are formed to make other words, it was interesting and not overdone and gave an idea of how difficult the language is.
The book also touched on the cleaning of the streets of the undesirables., not the first time a city has done this when a big sporting event is about to happen. Tokyo is no different to anywhere else having thousands of homeless on the streets.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.