
The Woman in the Purple Skirt
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $13.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jennifer Ikeda
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR · Marie Claire
“A taut and compelling depiction of loneliness and obsession.” (Paula Hawkins, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Girl on the Train)
“[It] will keep you firmly in its grip.” (Oyinkan Braithwaite, best-selling author of My Sister, the Serial Killer)
“The love child of Eugene Ionesco and Patricia Highsmith.” (Kelly Link, best-selling author of Get in Trouble)
A best-selling, prizewinning novel by one of Japan's most acclaimed young writers, for fans of Convenience Store Woman, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, and the movies Parasite and Rear Window
I think what I'm trying to say is that I've been wanting to become friends with the Woman in the Purple Skirt for a very long time....
Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench, where she eats a cream bun while the local children make a game of trying to get her attention. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched—by the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who is always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes, what she eats, whom she speaks to.
From a distance, the Woman in the Purple Skirt looks like a schoolgirl, but there are age spots on her face, and her hair is dry and stiff. She is single, she lives in a small apartment, and she is short on money—just like the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who lures her to a job as a housekeeper at a hotel, where she too is a housekeeper. Soon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt is having an affair with the boss and all eyes are on her. But 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.
Studiously deadpan and chillingly voyeuristic, and with the off-kilter appeal of the novels of Ottessa Moshfegh, The Woman in the Purple Skirt explores envy, loneliness, power dynamics, and the vulnerability of unmarried women in a taut, suspenseful narrative about the sometimes desperate desire to be seen.
©2021 Natsuko Imamura (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
A BEST BOOK OF THE SUMMER: Elle · Vulture · Oprah Daily · Chicago Tribune · CrimeReads · International Business Times · Palm Beach Daily News · Refinery29
“I’m a sucker for tales about female friendships that slide into obsession. . . . Not just another cheap thriller with a ‘you can’t trust anyone’ conceit, Imamura’s latest is like Anita Brookner’s Look at Me, reimagined by a surrealist.”―Hillary Kelly, Vulture
“[A] hair-raising tale of psychological suspense.”―Oprah Daily
“As unusual as it is alluring.”―Elle
Featured Article: Worldwide Thrills—The Best International Thriller Audiobooks
Thriller audiobooks are a great escape. They can whisk you around the world and beyond without ever having to leave your home. They can take you to places near and far without having to pack a suitcase. (Oh, and if you are taking a trip, you can bring a book with you—that's two trips in one!) From Havana to Nigeria to Tokyo, these suspense-packed listens will take you on a heart-pounding, journey from the first shocking twist to the final gasp.
People who viewed this also viewed...












Wild
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
interesting but not my style
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The performance was great. Jennifer Ikeda has really captured the voices of different characters and reads with tone and inflection. The acting wasn't over the top and there wasn't a monotone second in the entire 3+ hours.
However, I do wish they had coached her on the Japanese pronunciations a bit. Obviously she can enunciate the syllables one by one but (r's, d's, etc were pronounced the Japanese way) but isn't really comfortable with speaking Japanese. It made the Japanese names in the book sound over-pronounced at times. Yet when she read the Japanese greetings in a certain section of the story, her intonation was completely off. I actually cringed a bit at that part, it was so bad. But it's not something a non-Japanese speaker would catch. The acting was really good though, and I'd love to hear more of her work.
typical japanese fiction story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
great short story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Didn't Get It
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m very sad I wasted my time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was ok
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.