"This delicious novel, a best seller in Japan, is part mystery thriller, part feminist manifesto and part food blog."
This novel needs to come with a health warning: “Will make you ravenously hungry.”
Butter by Asakao Yuzuki, and translated by Polly Barton, is a novel of multitudes. Part mystery thriller, part food blog and part feminist manifesto, this Japanese best seller based on a true story delivers on all of these disparate parts.
Manako Kajii is a gourmet cook and convicted serial killer. Now held at the Tokyo Detention Centre, everyone wants to hear her story, but she has adamantly refused to speak to the press. Until enterprising journalist Rika Machida asks for her beef stew recipe—the dish she allegedly made for her final victim—and a cat-and-mouse game between them begins.
Kajii has strong opinions to match her strong personality. She says, “There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.” Kajii asks Machida to cook her favourite foods and then describe them to her. Machida, who lives on takeaways and instant noodles, knows nothing about food. As the relationship blossoms, the requests become more elaborate—and more personal.
Running beneath the mystery of Kajii’s killings—did she actually kill the three men or did they commit suicide of their own accord—lies an exploration of the impossible standards women must meet.
The novel excels in its descriptions, whether its a dairy farm on a snowy day or Tokyo in the middle of the night. But where it really shines is in its descriptions of all kinds of food, including Japanese dishes like ramen, but also French dishes like soupe de poisson or an American Thanksgiving turkey.
The first food suggestion that Kajii makes is to put a pat of butter on top of rice with a drop of soy sauce. I was so intrigued with the suggestion that I tried it on my lunch hour. Reader, it was delicious. Just like this book.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation's imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can't resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki's Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP
'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite' ALICE SLATER
'Nothing short of ingenious' INEWS
'Ambitious and unsettling'GUARDIAN
'It isn't entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it' OBSERVER
Butter features in the following genres: Audiobooks of the Month, Books of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Thriller and Suspense, Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Contemporary lifestyle fiction
Butter is available in Paperback, Audiobook
Butter was written by Asako Yuzuki and published by Fourth Estate
