Akiko's Quiet Happiness - by Jan-Philipp Sendker (Paperback)

About the Book

"Still grieving the death of her mother, 29-year-old Akiko is single and lives in self-imposed isolation in Tokyo. Then one evening, she unexpectedly runs into Kento, her first love from school. Kento now leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, only venturing out at night. At the same time, Akiko discovers evidence that her mother had been lying to her about their family, causing her to doubt everything. She has to admit to herself that she doesn't know who she is. With Kento's help, Akiko embarks on a journey into her own history, which takes her life in surprising directions and leads her to questions she had never dared to ask herself before: How do I want to live? And do I have the courage to love?"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Two lonely former classmates reconnect in Tokyo and unravel a family secret in this touching new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.

Still grieving the death of her mother, 29-year-old Akiko is single and lives in self-imposed isolation in Tokyo. Then one evening, she unexpectedly runs into Kento, her first love from school. Kento now leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, only venturing out at night.

At the same time, Akiko discovers evidence that her mother had been lying to her about their family, causing her to doubt everything. She has to admit to herself that she doesn't know who she is.

With Kento's help, Akiko embarks on a journey into her own history, which takes her life in surprising directions and leads her to questions she had never dared to ask herself before: How do I want to live? And do I have the courage to love?

Review Quotes

Praise for The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

"A lush tale of romance and family set in mid-twentieth-century Burma...beautiful...bound to enchant readers." --Booklist

"Magical...It's stories like The Art of Hearing Heartbeats that show how our very existence is important...What a gift that is." --Huffington Post

"No matter what I even attempt to say, I can't possibly capture the absolute magic of this book. Like a spell, it haunts. Like love, it's going to endure." --Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

About the Author

Jan-Philipp Sendker, born in Hamburg in 1960, was the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he published Cracks in the Wall, a nonfiction book about China. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, his first novel, is an international best seller. He lives in Potsdam with his family.

Daniel Bowles is associate professor of German Studies at Boston College. His translation of Christian Kracht's Eurotrash was long-listed for the 2025 International Booker Prize, and his English rendering of Kracht's Imperium won the Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize in 2016.