Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Saturday, 30 August 2025

"Chorus of Mushrooms" by Hiromi Goto

An audio book

A Japanese family who emigrated to Canada include a sometimes horny gran who only speaks Japanese and her grand-daughter who as an adult learns Japanese. They have a mushroom farm. The old lady tells stories, never quite the same twice. She leaves the house and is picked up by a cowboy who knows about Japan. At first it's thought that she's dead. The mother has a short of breakdown, going silent, which forces the grand-daughter to stay at home to look after her. Then credit card bills come through.

The father tells the grand-daughter that he hasn't always been quiet and withdrawn, but after the mother decided that they should only use English, he lost his ability to speak Japanese. Receiving a marriage proposal from someone who (without her realising) spoke to her only in Japanese, the grand-daughter decides to go away. "Where are you going?" "I don't know. I'll know when I get there."

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