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Natsuko Imamura

Biography

Natsuko Imamura

Natsuko Imamura is one of Japan's most exciting writers. Nominated three times for the Akutagawa Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Japan, she won it in 2019, for THE WOMAN IN THE PURPLE SKIRT. A self-professed fan of Yoko Ogawa's, she has been called "a second Sayaka Murata" (the author of CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN) for her use of acerbic humor and satire. Born in Hiroshima, she now lives in Osaka with her husband and their daughter. Like the main character in THE WOMAN IN THE PURPLE SKIRT, she has worked in a hotel as a housekeeper.

Natsuko Imamura

Books by Natsuko Imamura

The Woman in the Purple Skirt
written by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction

Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched --- by the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who is always perched just out of sight. From a distance, the Woman in the Purple Skirt looks like a schoolgirl, but there are age spots on her face. She is single, lives in a small apartment and is short on money --- just like the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who lures her to a job as a housekeeper at a hotel, where she too is a housekeeper. Soon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt is having an affair with the boss, and all eyes are on her. But no one knows or cares about the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. That's the difference between her and the Woman in the Purple Skirt.