The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada

I don’t consider my works to be particularly surreal or mystical; instead, I often depict the idea that strange things exist all around us in reality, but people often fail to notice them.

-Hiroko Oyamada

A young woman moves with her husband to be closer to her in-laws, quitting her job and giving up her old life. Bored and lonely, she sees a mysterious animal one day and fall down a randomly-appearing hole into a series of increasingly dreamlike events. Written in a sparse and matter-of-fact tone, The Hole explores themes such as gender roles and domesticity, the horrors and banalities of isolation, and cycles of familial trauma. It is at once simple and uninterpretable, drawing you in to its uneasy and strangely relatable world. Reminiscent of Murakami and Abe, with a bit of David Lynch thrown in

A great book you can finish in a sitting and will think about far long than that. Off the beaten track, so we can explore new literature together, and I hope you'll join me.