Hunchback - by Saou Ichikawa (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka spends her days in her room in a care home outside Tokyo, relying on an electric wheelchair to get around and a ventilator to breathe. But if Shaka's physical life is limited, her quick, mischievous mind has no boundaries: she takes e-learning courses on her iPad, publishes explicit fantasies on websites, and anonymously troll-tweets to see if anyone is paying attention ("If I were to live again, I'd want to be a highclass prostitute"). One day, she tweets into the void an offer of an enormous sum of money for a sperm donor. To her surprise - and ours - her new nurse accepts the dare, unleashing a series of events that will forever change Shaka's sense of herself as a woman in the world. Hunchback has shaken Japanese literary culture with its skillful depiction of the physical body and unrepentant humor. Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, it's a feminist story about the dignity of an individual who insists on her right to make choices for herself, no matter the consequences. Formally creative and refreshingly unsentimental, Hunchback depicts the joy, anger, and desires of a woman demanding autonomy in a world that doesn't always always grant it to people like her. Full of wit, bite, and heart, this unforgettable novel reminds us all of the full potential of our lives, no matter the limitations we experience"--

Book Synopsis

A bombshell bestseller in Japan, a defiant, darkly funny debut novel about a young woman in a care home seeking autonomy and the full possibilities of her life--"not only a major achievement in disability literature but great literature period" (Johanna Hedva)

"Uproariously funny, unflinching, and merciless."--Mariana Enriquez, author of Our Share of Night
"Unforgettable."--Sayaka Murata, author of Convenience Store Woman
"A sly whirlwind of madness and brilliance."--Weike Wang, author of Chemistry

A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Publishers Weekly, BBC, AnOther Magazine

Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka spends her days in her room in a care home outside Tokyo, relying on an electric wheelchair to get around and a ventilator to breathe. But if Shaka's physical life is limited, her quick, mischievous mind has no boundaries: She takes e-learning courses on her iPad, publishes explicit fantasies on websites, and anonymously troll-tweets to see if anyone is paying attention ("In another life, I'd like to work as a high-class prostitute"). One day, she tweets into the void an offer of an enormous sum of money for a sperm donor. To Shaka's surprise, her new nurse accepts the dare, unleashing a series of events that will forever change Shaka's sense of herself as a woman in the world.

Hunchback has shaken Japanese literary culture with its skillful depiction of the physical body and its unrepentant humor. Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, it's a feminist story about the dignity of an individual who insists on her right to make choices for herself, no matter the consequences. Formally creative and refreshingly unsentimental, Hunchback depicts the joy, anger, and desires of a woman demanding autonomy in a world that doesn't always grant it to people like her. Full of wit, bite, and heart, this unforgettable novel reminds us all of the full potential of our lives, regardless of the limitations we experience.

Review Quotes

"Told from the perspective of a disabled woman who asserts her sexual autonomy unapologetically, Hunchback is a personal exploration of pleasure and an indictment of the ableism and sexism embedded in society. Hunchback might be considered radical by nondisabled readers because it honestly depicts the innermost thoughts and desires of a disabled woman, which speaks to the lack of disability representation in publishing. . . . Insightful, humorous, and honest."--Alice Wong, disability activist and author of Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life

"Impossible to forget."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Offering an unflinching insight into the lived experience of disability, and biting commentary on the publishing industry, this is a short but powerful and refreshing novel."--The Bookseller (UK), "Editor's Choice"

"An absolutely incredible portrait of one woman's life and body--I couldn't put it down. You won't be able to, either."--Sarah Rose Etter, author of Ripe

"Hunchback is a deadpan account of living in a body at war with itself, but this battle does not ask for pity, nor is this narrative, or the body at its center, fragile: It's full of a force that able bodies can't fully grasp, written in a language that talks both clinically and sexually. It's also uproariously funny, unflinching, and merciless."--Mariana Enriquez, author of A Sunny Place for Shady People and Our Share of Night

"Defiant, subversive, sexy, dark, and full of originality, Hunchback breaks like a shard of lightning through a complacent, oppressive world."--Seán Hewitt, author of Open, Heaven and All Down Darkness Wide

"Hunchback is not only a major achievement in disability literature but great literature, period. It is subversive, raunchy, hilarious, raw, tough, yearning, and important. I want everyone to read this book so they can know that disabled people live, lust, stink, are messy, are perfect, are human."--Johanna Hedva, author of Your Love Is Not Good and How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom

"Propulsive, sexy, and distilled, Hunchback is the novel on disability and desire I've been waiting for. Shifting between the minutiae of physical limits and broader structures of ableism, Saou Ichikawa's writing is as narratively gripping as it is explosively insightful. This is an essential book."--Daisy Lafarge, author of Paul

"This genre-defying novel plunges us into a world that is so surreal and bizarre and captivating. Filled with dark humor and existential dread, this is a wild ride that teeters on the memorable edge of the absurd."--Weike Wang, author of Joan Is Okay and Chemistry

"A forceful and original novel which will leave no reader unchanged."--Nicola Dinan, author of Bellies and Disappoint Me

"Unforgettable."--Sayaka Murata, author of Convenience Store Woman

About the Author

Saou Ichikawa graduated from the School of Human Sciences, Waseda University. Her bestselling debut novel, Hunchback, won the Bungakukai Prize for New Writers, and she is the first author with a physical disability to receive the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's top literary awards. She has congenital myopathy and uses a ventilator and an electric wheelchair. Ichikawa lives outside Tokyo.

Polly Barton is an award-winning translator and writer. She lives in Bristol, England.