N.P.

N.P. is the title of the last collection of short stories by a celebrated Japanese writer. Written in English while he was living in Boston, the book may never see print in his native Japan: each time a new translator takes up the task, death gets in the way.

Four young people, each intimately bound to this writer and his work, are brought together by N.P. and its unsettling legacy of secrets and suicides. But with the help of the healing message contained in the final story they are able to defy the devastating pull of pain and loss.

N.P. is an extraordinarily powerful tale about the nature of love and the taboos surrounding it, confirming Banana Yoshimoto’s place as one of Japan’s most important writers.