What is the cost of a mother’s desire?...Emily Itami explores this question with wit and poignancy.” — New York Times Book Review on Fault Lines
“What’s intriguing about Fault Lines is its shrewd commentary on Japan’s societal expectations of women as either sex objects or dutiful mothers. As Mizuki eventually learns, it’s in striking a workable balance between these two dichotomies—her past life versus her present one, titillating desire versus familial obligations, who she wants to be versus who society dictates she should be—that the real work of living begins.” — Washington Post
“A complicated romance with immense empathy for all its characters and their flaws [and] a wonderfully nuanced take on Tokyo life.” — Popsugar on Fault Lines
“Sexy, laugh-out-loud funny, and full of prose as sumptuous as the meals described, Fault Lines is a must read for anyone fond of Sally Rooney’s expert characterization and Haruki Murakami’s immersive world-building.” — Bon Appétit
“Fault Lines manages to be clever, wise, and heartbreaking all at once—the book is the perfect marriage of Sally Rooney and early Murakami, with a unique insight into marriage, motherhood, and warring cultural expectations that is all Emily Itami's own. Absolutely brilliant.” — Kathy Wang, author of Impostor Syndrome