The Translations Book Club departs for Japan for our last book of 2021, The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura (trans. Lucy North).

The Woman in the Purple Skirt seems to live in a world of her own. She appears to glide through crowded streets without acknowledging any reaction her presence elicits. Each afternoon, she sits on the same park bench, eating a pastry and ignoring the local children who make a game of trying to get her attention.

She may not know it, but the Woman in the Purple Skirt being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - no, it's much more complicated than that.

New members are most welcome but spaces are limited. The event link below will be activated from 9am on Wednesday 24 October and spaces will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions.