Sweet Bean Paste, Durian Sukegawa
Sweet Bean Paste, Durian Sukegawa
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Sweet Bean Paste

Author: Durian Sukegawa, Alison Watts

Narrator: Cindy Kay

Unabridged: 5 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/07/2022


Synopsis

A charming tale of friendship, love, and loneliness in contemporary Japan

Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.

But everything is about to change.

Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue's dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.

Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa's beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.

About Durian Sukegawa

Durian Sukegawa studied oriental philosophy at Waseda University, before going on to work as a reporter in Berlin and Cambodia in the early 1990s. He has written a number of books and essays, TV programs and films. He lives in Tokyo.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nicole on June 23, 2023

Przepiękna historia. Bardzo lubię takie niepozorne książki, troszkę o niczym, a jednak o wszystkim......more

Goodreads review by Cindy on May 09, 2019

Short and sweet; a quick read with the type of sentimentality, calm, and wholesomeness you'd expect from a Japanese drama, but it didn't grab me the way the author intended. I think it's interesting that the author wants to reject the notion that your value is measured by how useful you are to socie......more

Goodreads review by Emily on September 05, 2022

This book made me feel like the Grinch......more

Goodreads review by Carolyn Marie on July 05, 2024

This story is heartfelt and heartbreaking. Sukegawa’s writing is subtle and profound. This is one of those books that never really leaves you after you turn the last page.......more

Goodreads review by Liong on January 29, 2023

I like these meaningful words in Tokue’s letter to Sentaro. If I were not here, this full moon would not be here. Neither would the trees. Or the wind. If my view of the world disappears, then everything that I see disappears too. It’s as simple as that. This is a lovely and simple story to read. Enjo......more