Reading (Some of) Shawn's 5-Star Books: Yūko Tsushima, Woman Running in the Mountains

(Image from Goodreads)

Book #5: Woman Running in the Mountains, Yūko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt

Woman Running in the Mountains, written by Yūko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt is a quiet but disquieting novel in which Takiko Odaka, a young woman in her 20s, finds herself pregnant and single. From the outset of the novel, it's clear that Takiko is unwilling to marry the man who impregnates her, have an abortion, or give her child up for adoption. Takiko's dedication to prepare for her pregnancy and subsequent birth is quite compelling to read about.

The prose in this story isn't lyrical, and Takiko's determination to be a good mother to her child or her love for her son aren't written about in an emotionally descriptive manner. Instead, readers are given a matter-of-fact account of Takiko's fight against her alcoholic and absuive father and her emotionally manipulative mother who don't support her decision to give birth and become a single mother. To Tsushima's credit, the story—which takes place in Japan in the 70s—is quite revolutionary. Women giving birth out of wedlock in the 70s was 1% and even today it's lower than 5%, so Takiko's character is a feminist "rebel".

Although my interest in reading about mother-child relationships is low, I found Takiko's love for her child so touching and heartwarming. In spite of her young age, she prepares for her child's birth and subsequent care in such a way that made my heart melt, definitely unexpected for me!

I also loved how Takiko's mother eventually accepts and embraces her daughter's decision and her grandson's birth. Takiko and her mother's slow reconciliation shines a light of hope on the healing of one traumatic parernt-child relationship.

There is minimal plot in this story, and as I mentioned, the prose isn't beautiful, but functional. However, I love Takiko and her motivation to give everything she can to her son without behaving like a helicopter parent.

There were moments I laughed at Takiko's naïveté, like when she decides to walk to the hospital when she discovers she's in labour (that's a bit of a fail), but there were also moments I felt were touching and angering, such as when her and her father get into a fistfight.

But I think that considering Tsushima wrote this in 1980, she was taking a massive risk, and I commend her for writing about such a risqué topic.

In this end, this wasn't 5 stars for me, but I can remember this story so vividly and recall how powerful Takiko's love is for her unborn baby and then her son (once he's born), that I can't give it less than 4 because it is a story that has stuck with me, and even though it's not something that I would have picked up on my own, I'm so happy that I read this shorter work of Japanese fiction and plan to read Territory of Light by Tsushima next.

Also, I think that this story is very interesting to read alongside Annie Ernaux's Happening even though Tsushima's story is fiction and Ernaux's is nonfiction, and Ernaux's story is about abortion and Tsushima's is an account of a woman who chooses to give birth to and keep her baby.

If you are a fan of Japanese fiction; stories about parent-child relationships; slow-paced, character-driven stories; or heartwarming tales of new mothers, then this might be for you!

I read an ebook copy of this which I borrowed from the library.