The Woman in the Purple Skirt - Natsuko Imamura translated by Lucy North

There is something about the Japanese writing style that always seems slightly off centre, slightly surreal. I find it in Ishiguro and Murakami so I was not surprised to find it here. It is by no means a bad thing! There is something hypnotic about such narratives that drive the reader on, floundering in an almost abstract world. Lucy North’s translation allows little to be lost. And yet there was one powerful sequence where the titular woman is engaging with some children that reminded me of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant which seems very English!  It’s consummate story telling, nuanced and enigmatic to the end.

Thematically I guess it’s a story of obsession and voyeurism beginning innocently enough but gathering a darker momentum as the story progresses. It is told from one person’s point of view completely (the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan) so there is often the nagging sense of questioning perspectives and accuracies, something I find fascinating. The reader is encouraged to question our purple skirted lady’s normality (another interesting device is the constant referral to the Woman in the Purple Skirt using initial capitals as if that were her name)  by our narrator, referred to in the same manner, who may not be quite as stable as she would have us believe?! But the author skilfully uses the story to explore wider issues of the female condition, hierarchies and power struggles in the work environment together with issues of loneliness and vulnerability.

Perhaps  the most revealing paragraphs in the book as to the ultimate motivation of our lady with the yellow cardigan are these;

‘Unfortunately, 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.’

‘When the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan goes out walking in the shopping district, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention. But when the Woman in the Purple Skirt goes out, it’s impossible not to pay attention. Nobody could ignore her. ‘

It’s a short book but it’s well paced and easy to read with a deal of humour amongst the darkness. In one sense not much happens! It’s an everyday life story of people dealing with their problems about money and employment, relationships and routines.  Yet it’s open ended and leaves the reader with many questions, and a sense of doubt as to whether one’s interpretations of events is correct? It’s really quite unnerving. One is left with an almost fable like or fairy tale sense of the story of these two women. A most enjoyable reading experience!