A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick

'Ingenious … touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking.'

Guardian

'If you're itching to read a new novel by David Mitchell … try this.'

The Times _______________

In Tokyo – one of the world's largest megacities – a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.

But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers – from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo's denizens, drawing them ever closer. 'Masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo### its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat.' David Peace, author of THE TOKYO TRILOGY One of the

Independent's best debuts

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick

'Ingenious … touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking.'

Guardian

'If you're itching to read a new novel by David Mitchell … try this.'

The Times _______________

In Tokyo – one of the world's largest megacities – a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.

But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers – from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo's denizens, drawing them ever closer. 'Masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo### its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat.' David Peace, author of THE TOKYO TRILOGY One of the

Independent's best debuts