Customer Reviews

The Cat In The Coffin

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a haunting tale of unrequited love, unsatisfying revenge and unforgiveable acts. Every character goes wrong with the best intentions. Every moment of indecision has disastrous consequences.

It starts quite simply with a young girl called Masayo taking a job in Tokyo as tutor and glorified babysitter to Momoko, eight-year-old daughter of the artist Goro Kawakubo. Masayo wishes to become a painter, and Goro promises to give her art lessons as well as an excellent salary.

Momoko's best friend and surrogate mother is a beautiful white cat named Lala. Masayo very quickly becomes slavishly devoted to the child, her cat and her father. The three of them live quite happily and innocently together until - well, please read the book to learn the rest.

I find the cover art and the title of this book unfortunate. They give an impression that the plot might be somewhat comic or the content light. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Cat in the Coffin is life-and-death serious, and lays bare the darkest human emotions in a frighteningly quiet manner.

Koike's style is so unpretentious that the sudden shocks of the plot are all the more effective. There are deaths and losses in this story as eerie as anything I've ever read. At the same time, the very telling of it is cathartic.

I loved the novel and note with regret that no other books by Mariko Koike are available in English as yet. Since this book appeared in 2009, perhaps more translations are on the way. I'm hoping!

A young girl moves to Tokyo in the 1940's, learns art and falls in love, and occasionally random characters are murdered. Mariko Koike's writing is very intriguing and her character profiles really pull you in, but I'm not sure I'm entirely satisfied by the plot twists. I look forward to seeing Koike's other books get translated as I feel this would have been a 5-star book if it stuck to romance&realistic literature or to suspense but not both. On the other hand it is a short fun read and if you have interest in Japan I do recommend it.