Kids' Choice (Impedimenta) (Spanish Edition)

The «Women's Literature Prize» winner in 1978, Yuko Tsushima returns with a painfully truthful account of Japanese femininity and motherhood in her novel. Koko has always lived in the present, facing each day without looking back. Despite the pressures from her family, she moved out to live with her boyfriend. She has been raising an eleven-year-old daughter on her own, making ends meet by giving private piano lessons. Meanwhile, the suspicion of a new pregnancy awakens within her old longings, eternal guilt, and hidden hopes.

Yuko Tsushima puts the conventions of independence and memory to the test, offering us an oppressive dance of masks where family members, friends, and lovers are determined to have the final say on how women should live their lives. "Women's Literature Prize in 1978, Yuko Tsushima defends the right to live as one wishes in this novel," says Gonzalo Torné of La lecturta.

"A novel that explores loneliness, sexuality, the need for love, and family ties amidst the neon desolation of Tokyo," writes Angela Carter. "Tsushima's prose is so bare and vivid that even mundane details acquire a visceral vitality... A story that delves unsettlingly into the lives of women, without sentimentality or self-pity," remarks Margaret Drabble.

"As relevant today as when it was published... at once powerfully edifying and painfully sad," according to the Japan Times. Koko, the protagonist, has always lived in the present, facing each day without looking back. Despite the pressures from her family, she moved out to live with her boyfriend. She has been raising an eleven-year-old daughter on her own, making ends meet by giving private piano lessons.

Meanwhile, the suspicion of a new pregnancy awakens within her old longings, eternal guilt, and hidden hopes. Yuko Tsushima puts the conventions of independence and memory to the test, offering us an oppressive dance of masks where family members, friends, and lovers are determined to have the final say on how women should live their lives.

The novel has been praised for its powerful and unsentimental exploration of the lives of women. "Tsushima's prose is so bare and vivid that even mundane details acquire a visceral vitality," writes Margaret Drabble. The Japan Times calls the novel "as relevant today as when it was published... at once powerfully edifying and painfully sad."

Overall, Yuko Tsushima's novel is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of the struggles and challenges faced by women in Japanese society, told with a raw and honest voice that resonates with readers both past and present.

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