Banana Yoshimoto's novels have made her a sensation in Japan and all over the world, and, the dazzling English-language debut that is still her best-loved book, is an enchantingly original and deeply affecting book about...Banana Yoshimoto's novels have made her a sensation in Japan and all over the world, and, the dazzling English-language debut that is still her best-loved book, is an enchantingly original and deeply affecting book about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Mikage, the heroine of, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away.