The prize-winning debut mystery from one of Japan's best-loved crime writersThe K Apartments for Ladies are occupied by over one hundred unmarried women, once young and lively, now grown and old—and in some cases, evil.Their residence conceals a secret connecting the unsolved 1951 kidnapping of four-year-old George Kraft to the clandestine burial of a child's body in the basement bath-house. So, when news comes that the building must be moved to make way fo...

A dizzying tale of lust, mystery, and murder—from a beloved Japanese crime fiction author and LGBT iconThe Lady Killer leads a double life in Tokyo's shadowy underworld. By day, he is a devoted husband and hard worker; by night, he cruises cabaret bars and nightclubs in search of lonely single women to seduce.But now the hunter is being hunted, and in his wake lies a trail of gruesome murders. Who is the culprit? The answer lies tangled in a web of clues—an...

Four gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan's centennialIntroducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India "the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story." Composed of powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years, Malgudi Days presents Narayan's imaginary city in full color, revealing the essen...

This collection of mystery and horror stories is regarded as Japan's answer to Edgar Allan Poe.Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination, the first volume of its kind translated into English, is written with the quick tempo of the West but rich with the fantasy of the East. These nine bloodcurdling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to readers outside Japan, including the strange story of a quadruple amputee and his perverse wife; ...

Inspector Felse's son escorts a young girl through India and investigates a murder in this mystery from the bestselling author of the Cadfael Chronicles.Edgar Award and CWA Diamond Dagger Award–Winning AuthorWhen his girlfriend's beautiful but erratic film-star mother, Chloe, calls to ask a favor, Dominic Felse fears the worst. But she makes the couple an offer they can't refuse: an all-expense-paid trip to India to escort Anjili Kumar, the...

This modern classic, written in 1913, was the source for the highly acclaimed film, The MistressIn The Wild Geese, prominent Japanese novelist Ogai Mori offers a poignant story of unfulfilled love, set against the background of the dizzying social change accompanying the fall of the Meiji regime. The young heroine, Otama, is forced by poverty to become a moneylender's mistress. She is surrounded by skillfully-drawn characters—her weak-willed fathe...

A “must-read . . . gorgeous and intimate” novel that demystifies the idea of the selfless Japanese mother and the adult daughter honor-bound to care for her (Washington Post)Mitsuki Katsura, a Japanese woman in her mid-50s, is a French-language instructor at a private university in Tokyo. Her husband, whom she met in Paris, is a professor at another private university. He is having an affair with a much younger woman.In addition to her husband’s in...

Geisha in Rivalry, first published as Udekurabe in 1918, has a secure place among Kafu Nagai's masterpieces.Set against the backdrop of Tokyo's Shimbashi geisha district, a company of vivid characters play out their drama of illicit love, shady intrigue, and unrelenting rivalry. In the forefront are the geisha: some powerful and spiteful like the imperious Rikiji, some crude and obvious like the gaudy Kikuchiyo, some naive and pathetic like the he...

The Setting Sun is a poignant exploration of postwar Japanese society, focusing on themes of decline, identity, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world. Osamu Dazai critiques the disintegration of the traditional aristocratic class while examining the psychological struggles of individuals caught between the past and an uncertain future. Through the lives of characters such as Kazuko and her brother Naoji, the novel delves into themes of ali...

Originally published as Garusudo no Uchi in daily serialization in the Asahi newspaper in 1915, before appearing in book form, this is the first time Inside My Glass Doors has been published in English. It is a moving literary reminiscence, a collection of thirty-nine autobiographical essays penned a year before the author's death. Written in the genre of shohin (little items), the personal vignettes provide a kaleidoscopic view of Natsume Soseki's private world ...

R. K. Narayan (1906—2001) witnessed nearly a century of change in his native India and captured it in fiction of uncommon warmth and vibrancy. The title character in The English Teacher, Narayan’s most autobiographical novel, searches for meaning when the death of his young wife deprives him of his greatest source of happiness. This pioneering novel, luminous in its detail and refreshingly free of artifice, is a gift to twentieth-century literature.

Parables, anecdotes and fables have always been a popular way of conveying essential wisdom for personal development. Nuggets of Wisdom is one such book -- a rare collection of little tales, stories and incidents that the author has painstakingly collected over the years. Each is a prime example of earthy wisdom that young people need, which are hard to come by in the rush of coping with the day-to-day life.