So We Look to the Sky
Misumi Kubo
In contemporary Japan, one scandal connects the lives of five people struggling with desire, shame, loneliness, and the expectations placed upon them. When a young man’s affair with an older woman is exposed online, the fallout ripples through the lives of teenagers navigating first love, a married couple facing infertility, a young man caring for his grandmother with dementia, and a single mother working as a midwife. Through these interconnected stories, Misumi Kubo explores the intimate realities often hidden behind the surface of everyday life: the pressures on women’s bodies, the stigma surrounding sexuality, poverty, family obligations, and the desperate need for human connection. Unflinching yet deeply compassionate, this award-winning Japanese novel finds hope in the fragile, stubborn force of life itself.
Japan
2027
