Goodbye Tsugumi

Banana Yoshimoto's novels have made her an international sensation, and her most recent, Asleep, was a triumphant performance, delighting her many fans. Now she returns with a magical, offbeat story of a deep and complicated friendship between two young female cousins that ranks among her best work. Maria is the only daughter of an unmarried woman. She has grown up at the seaside alongside her cousin Tsugumi, a lifelong invalid who is charismatic, spoiled, and occasionally cruel.

When Maria's father is finally able to bring Maria and her mother to Tokyo, it ushers Maria into a world of university enrollment, impending adulthood, and a "normal" family. Then Tsugumi invites Maria to spend a last summer by the sea, and a restful idyll becomes a time of dramatic growth, as Tsugumi finds love and Maria learns the true meaning of home and family. She also has to confront both Tsugumi's inner strength and the real possibility of losing her. Goodbye Tsugumi is a beguiling, resonant novel from one of the world's finest young writers.

"Banana Yoshimoto is always alert to the marvelous." -- Elle