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WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025

THE NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK

‘A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki's new novel Butter’ NIGEL SLATER

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.

'Compelling, delightfully weird' PANDORA SYKES

'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP

'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER

'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY

‘Nothing short of ingenious’ INEWS

‘Ambitious and unsettling’ GUARDIAN

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it’ OBSERVER

Details

ISBN13: 9780008679231
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 464
Edition:
Publication Date: 06 Mar 2024
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 234(H)x153(L)x29(W)270
Weight (gm): 270

Author Biography

Asako Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981. She won the All Yomimono Award for New Writers for her story, ’Forget Me, Not Blue’, which appeared in her debut, Shuuten No Anoko, published in 2010. She won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Award in 2015 for Nile Perch No Joshikai. She has been nominated multiple times for the Naoko Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio and film. Butter won Waterstones Book of the Year 2024 and the Books Are My Bag Breakthrough Author Award 2024. It is shortlisted for debut of the year at the British Book Awards 2025 and longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award 2025.

Reviews

‘A cult phenomenon’ iNEWS

‘Took the literary world by storm’ BBC

‘A killer Japanese novel’ THE TIMES

'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki’s new novel Butter … contains delicious descriptions' Nigel Slater, Guardian Feast newsletter

'A deliciously dark tale … examining power and greed through a feminist lens. Yuzuki has created a cult phenomenom' iNews

‘Exuberant, indulgent romp of a novel … Butter is a full-fat, Michelin-starred treat … Let this book bring you under its spell’ The Sunday Times

‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ Daily Mail

‘A unique and, at times, unsettling read … Butter holds countless surprises … you’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time’ Stylist

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it’ Observer

‘Ambitious and unsettling … a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society’s impossibly contradictory expectations of women’ Guardian

'Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable … Butter will churn your brain and your stomach with panache’ Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?

‘An unputdownable, breathtakingly original novel … I will be spoon-feeding Butter to every woman I know’ Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key

'I devoured this dark and delicious novel' Imogen Crimp, author of A Very Nice Girl

‘A delectable meditation on appetite, fatphobia and misogyny in modern Japan … a salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ Alice Slater, author of Death of A Bookseller

‘Yuzuki evokes a cold and alienating world’ Financial Times

‘Has become quite the cult phenomenon, is nothing short of ingenious’ iNews

‘Cleverly intertwines paeans to the pleasures of eating with indictments of Japan’s standards for women’ New Yorker

‘A heady serving of food culture and feminism … Yuzuki goes beyond the typical crime narrative’ Japan Times

‘A delicious novel’ i-D

'It'll make your mouth water' Irish Independent