Un roman délicieux saupoudré de tension psychologique, doublé d'un portrait du Japon contemporain.
« Ses dents mordent la pâte moelleuse, enrobée de beurre salé et de sirop. Son estomac gargouille. Elle perçoit le goût, la texture et la température de la nourriture. Elle est tirée d'affaire, elle le sait à présent. »
Le quotidien de Rika, une jeune journaliste, est bouleversé quand elle rencontre Manako, une femme accusée d'avoir assassiné trois de ses amants. Cette dernière consent à une interview, à condition que Rika se plie à ses demandes culinaires. Mais en changeant de régime alimentaire, Rika gagne quelques kilos et, pour la première fois, subit le regard des autres et des injonctions de la société à l'égard des femmes.
« Cette authenticité à laquelle ma grand-mère tenait tant a fini par paraître factice. Il en va toujours ainsi... Plus gros et plus clairs sont les joyaux, plus ils pourraient passer pour des jouets ou des bonbons. »
Lorsque Maô, étudiante timide et solitaire, fait la connaissance de Yotsuba, une employée dans la supérette où toutes les deux travaillent, elle a bien du mal à envisager l'avenir. C'est en réalité le point de départ d'une série de rencontres qui vont bouleverser son existence.
Il y a bien sûr Yotsuba, qui a grandi au sein d'une famille de restaurateurs ayant fait fortune au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ; Miako, une artiste qui a vécu une adolescence tempétueuse et des amours contrariées ; Mai, une enfant-star malgré elle aujourd'hui hantée par le passé...
Année après année, les fils de ces différentes vies se tissent et forment sous les yeux de Maô un tableau vivace et émouvant, fait de drames, de regrets mais surtout de solidarité.
Un portrait éclatant du Japon depuis la fin de la guerre, qui explore avec finesse le regard de la société sur les femmes et la liberté à laquelle elles aspirent.
A thrilling novel about a convicted woman serial killer and chef, based on a true story.
Butter follows journalist Rika Machida in her investigation of serial killer Manako Kajii, who is convicted of luring in wealthy men with her expensive cookery classes, only to seduce and murder them, taking their money before moving on to her next victim. Kajii refuses to cooperate with the press until Rika, at the suggestion of her kitchen-savvy friend Reiko, writes Kajii a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew.
Butter is a vivid, panoramic exploration of misogyny, eating, obsession and romance in contemporary Japan. Based on the true story of Kanae Kijima, a serial killer and con woman known as "The Konkatsu Killer", Butter is a novel like no other: part psychological crime story, part exploration of the pressures on women''s lives in contemporary Japan and part meditation on the delicious pleasures, and societal pressures, associated with food.
'Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable' PANDORA SYKES
'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY
'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki's new novel Butter' NIGEL SLATER
'A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat' THE SUNDAY TIMES
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story, and translated by Polly Barton.
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation's imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can't resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki's Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
'Luscious ... I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP
'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite' ALICE SLATER
'Nothing short of ingenious' INEWS
'Ambitious and unsettling' GUARDIAN
'It isn't entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it' OBSERVER
This is the second novel from Asako Yuzuki, author of the global sensation BUTTER, which we have sold over 300K copies (TCM)
BUTTER won Waterstones'' Book of the Year 2024, the Books Are My Bag Breakthrough Author Award 2024 and the British Book Awards'' Debut Fiction Award 2025. It was shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award 2025.
Asako Yuzuki has a big profile in Japan having won multiple literary awards. HOOKED (published as Nile Perch Girls Club in Japan) won the Yamamoto ShAgoro Award (awarded annually to a new work of fiction considered to exemplify the art of storytelling - previous winners include Banana Yoshimoto).
Competition: Butter; Strange Pictures; The Pisces; Convenience Store Woman; Chlorine; Strange Houses; Diary of a Void; Piglet; Breasts and Eggs; Hunger; Bunny; Boy Parts; So Thrilled For You; Sweat. Melissa Broder; Sayaka Murata; Jade Song; Uketsu; Eliza Clark; Lottie Hazell; Mieko Kawakami; Choi Jin-young; Mona Awad; Holly Bourne
