Amrita - Softcover

"Blood ties seemed unrelated to how we were living," Sakumi, the young narrator of Amrita, begins portentously. The "we" of the family comprises a strange blend--Sakumi's mother, twice married (widowed and divorced); a telepathic younger brother; a cousin; and her mother's childhood friend. Grief over the tragic death of Mayu, Sakumi's flamboyant younger sister, binds them together. But this family tragedy is not the only obstacle to happiness and wholeness for Sakumi, who loses her memory in a fall. Her troubles lead to awareness, though, as memories gradually return, leading Sakumi to discover her own identity and move towards acceptance of her sister's death.

Banana Yoshimoto's first novel, Kitchen (1991), traversed the territory of love and loss. Its fabulous success in Japan and the U.S. had to do with her distinct sensibility, a contemporary voice arising from a tradition-conscious culture. Amrita also ventures through the minefield of familial loss, but with a style less driven by the bizarre interface of tradition and pop culture.

Praise for Amrita

"Banana Yoshimoto is a master storyteller . . . The sensuality is subtle, masked, and extraordinarily powerful. The language is deceptively simple."--Chicago Tribune

"Entering Banana Yoshimoto's fictional world is a little like living as an expatriate in Tokyo--everyday things are disconcertingly different. The exotic lurks around every corner . . . What sets Yoshimoto apart, though, is her blunt candor . . . Amrita is difficult to forget."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Yoshimoto's most fully realized work to date . . . Her firm grasp of her characters, her surefooted prose and her wide-eyed exploration of everything from American pop culture to the Japanese language make this one of the most satisfying books of the summer."--Time Out New York

"Ms. Yoshimoto has an effortless ability to penetrate her characters' hearts."--New York Times Book Review

"Yoshimoto shouldn't be shy about basking in her celebrity. Her achievements are already legend."--Boston Globe

"Yoshimoto knows the remedial potential of a good, old-fashioned narrative . . . Her characters are immersed in a youth culture that owes more than a little to our notoriously shallow, decadent fin de siècle. They sleep around, eat street ramen, and listen with pleasure to Nirvana, but their lives are also marred by old-fashioned timeless tragedy. They lose their jobs and marry unsuccessfully; the people they love die before their time . . .Yoshimoto has never been afraid of trauma."--The Nation

"This Kundera-esque novel (from the hugely popular Japanese author of Kitchen) is more about the grinding unabatement of everyday life than the shocks that perforate it, and all of its spirits are, mercifully, blithe."--Entertainment Weekly

"In the popular young author's latest novel, an oddly winsome blend of personal psychology and the paranormal overlay the story of a young woman's fight to reclaim herself after twin tragedies . . . The earnest, peripatetic confusion of Sakumi's narrative whisks the reader from one peak moment to another . . . Endearing . . . Will surely fit in any collection where contemporary fiction circulates well."--Library Journal

"All of Yoshimoto's trademark themes and edgy lyricism are at work in this novel, her most ambitious work to date . . . and many scenes crackle with her hot-wired magic . . . Sakumi, the narrator, is enchantingly muddled, sincere, and full of love for her irregular family . . . [Yoshimoto] spins a mesmerizing and haunting tale."--Booklist