During junior high school, her only hope was to go to a cram school on top of a hill. Saki's younger brother was attending the cram school, and she had to pick him up from the school.
There, one of her classmates, Nara, helped his uncle, the head of the cram school. Nara is the most respected person in the class, and Saki secretly admires him. He is popular among the class, and Saki is delighted to learn about this little-known side of him.
At the cram school, there was a woman named Momose, an adult who helped out. Saki dislikes her for always having a fresh, carefree smile on her face. One day, Momose was absent without warning from the school. The head of the school, Nara and Saki decided to visit Momose's house. There, they find Momose trembling in a way they've never seen before.
This is a coming-of-age novel with a sensitive psychological depiction of a girl in her adolescence growing up beyond the troubles and conflicts that can happen to anyone. (Pub Date: June 10 2020) (Free translation)
Original Summary: 14歳の関口佐紀は、クラスの中で一番目立たないグループにいた。
彼女は自分のいじけた性格がいやでいやでしょうがなかった。
クラスで、一番人気のある女子に声をかけられるだけで、自分が惨めな気分となった。
そんな中学生活の中、たったひとつの希望が坂の上の塾だった。
その塾には弟が通っており、佐紀はお迎え係りだった。
その塾には同級生の奈良がいて、叔父の塾長を手伝っていた。奈良は、クラスでも一目おかれる存在で、佐紀はひそかに憧れていた。
クラスのみんなから人気のある彼の知られていない一面を知ることが佐紀の喜びだった。
その塾には、手伝いにきている百瀬という大人の女性がいた。
いつも爽やかで、屈託のない笑顔をふりまいている彼女のことを、佐紀はきらいだった。
ある日のこと、その百瀬が塾を無断欠勤した。
塾長と奈良と佐紀で百瀬の家を訪ねることにした。
そこには、今までみたことのない小刻みに震える百瀬がいた……。
思春期の少女が、誰にでも起こりうる悩みや葛藤を越えて成長していく様を、繊細な心理描写で描いた青春小説。
This is a bittersweet coming of age story.
As far as I know the book doesn't have a translation in English, so my review will first make considerations for people studying the language. First, let me make it clear that my level is intermediate. Most of the kanji have furigana, which was a problem for my reader to define the words when I needed it to, but of course furigana is always a blessing for us learning. This also indicates that the Japanese level isn't advanced, which is very true. Also, the story takes place during the main character's school days, making the major part of the vocabulary familiar to us students.
The story actually starts with Saki, after many years, receiving a call from her old classmate, Nara, who informs her that the teacher Kuwa, his uncle, passed away some time before. That's when we go back to find out the importance of those two people in her life as a young teenager. Kuwa wasn't officially Saki's or even Nara's teacher, he was the owner of a cram school attended by Saki's younger brother, from where she had to pick him up in the evening. Because Saki was such a standoffish person, to a point no one in her school called her by the first name, she felt that only there in the cram school she really existed, and it was where she got to see Nara without the context of their class, a version of him that was just her own.
This book is the true definition of a coming of age, even though we have Saki's platonic romance. While the cram is really for her little brother, the experiences she gets going there makes her grow with each chapter we read.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed by how platonic her relationship was with Nara, but creating this kind of expectation was surely part of the author's plans. And that's also what makes it all so interesting. For most of the events, Saki isn't but a spectator. But while she starts being there because she wants to be near Nara, the lessons Kuwa teaches them also touches her in a way from standoffish she becomes a true part of the stories she was only observing the beginning. This evolution in her character is very beautiful.
Of course, even as a reader many of Kuwa's words and even Saki's conclusions touched me deep as well. I don't think this is a book that will amaze many, and that's why I'm not giving it five stars, but it was still special to me.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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