Hiruko is a refugee from a now-vanished archipelago—somewhere between China and Polynesia. Alongside a mismatched group of fellow travelers, she searches across Europe for someone who can still speak her native tongue. When they finally discover a sushi chef from her homeland, hope turns to confusion: he has lost the ability to speak.
Desperate to hear her mother language again, Hiruko’s last hope lies with a skeptical aphasia specialist. Their journey becomes a surreal, multilingual quest—full of linguistic puzzles, rhymes, and cultural misfires—that explores the boundaries of identity, language, and belonging.
Translated by Margaret Mitsutani with dazzling sensitivity to the novel’s rich polyphony, Suggested in the Stars is the second installment in Yoko Tawada’s singular project. A weird and wonderful adventure in its own right, it also sets the stage for an exciting, uncharted finale.
"A new kind of novel... (Margaret Mitsutani's translation, incorporating so many different languages, rhyme schemes and linguistic misunderstandings, is also a serious accomplishment.) Suggested in the Stars teases a decisive and exciting finale to come, a further journey for this wild group of fit-together misfits. But for now, this second installment is a weird and wonderful adventure on its own" New York Times
Physical Info: 5.39 x 0.71 x 8.54 inches | 240 Pages | Paperback
Granta Books