Emily Itami Book order (chronological)

Rei, Kiki and Ai are three sisters divided by distance and circumstance. They have lost both parents, one way or another, and found their own ways of carrying on. Rei works for a financial corporation in London, halfway across the world from where she grew up. Back in Tokyo, Kiki is the single mother of a young son, working in a care home. Ai, the youngest, is a Japanese music idol. When Ai is embroiled in a scandal and suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Rei has to pick up the pieces of her family once more. Reuniting for the summer in their childhood home on the Japanese coast, the sisters are forced to confront the legacy of their mother's suicide, the stories they have told themselves ever since and the question of how they want to live. A transporting and redemptive novel about love and loss, this new novel from the author of Fault Lines confirms Emily Itami as a talent to watch.

Mizuki hat alles, das perfekte Leben: Zwei gelungene und geliebte Kinder, einen erfolgreichen Ehemann, ein schönes Apartment in Tokio. Ihre Karriereträume hat sie aufgegeben, um das Leben einer guten Hausfrau und Mutter zu führen. Was darin nicht vorgesehen war: Der Ehemann ignoriert sie, die Kinder gleichen manchmal kleinen Psychopathen und die größtmögliche Freiheit ist ein Abend mit Freundinnen. Erst in der Begegnung mit einem inspirierenden, charmanten jungen Mann entdeckt sie gleichberechtigte Freundschaft, ihre Freiheit und ihre Stimme wieder. Mizuki hat nur ein Leben und muss sich doch zwischen zwei entscheiden – zwischen familiärer Verantwortung und den eigenen Bedürfnissen.

"Mizuki has a hardworking husband, a beautiful apartment, two adorable children, and a crushing sense of loneliness. She loves her family but feels invisible in her marriage and trapped by the confines of domestic life. Then, one rainy night, she meets Kiyoshi, a successful restaurateur, and quickly finds herself falling for him. In their affair she finds passion, excitement and freedom - but how long can it last, and at what cost? Alluring, compelling and darkly funny, Ballad is a bittersweet love story and a daring exploration of modern relationships."--Provided by publisher.