Asako Yuzuki (Butter) exposes how the pressure to conform can push women toward manipulation, obsession and emotional collapse in Hooked, translated by Polly Barton.
At 30 years old, Eriko checks all the status boxes for life in affluent Setagaya, a neighborhood in Tokyo. She holds a good job in fish import and export at a prestigious company, is considered beautiful and is a dutiful daughter who still lives at home. Yet she feels the loneliness of having no female friends. She’s thrilled when she meets Shoko, the lifestyle blogger behind her favorite blog, in person. Online, Shoko is a self-proclaimed “lazy” housewife, “The World’s Worst Wife,” but Eriko imagines Shoko as independent, free-spirited and creative—all the things Eriko isn’t. Though she’s annoyed when Shoko doesn’t live up to her expectations, Eriko clings to their relationship, becoming possessive to the point that Shoko wonders if Eriko is the source of the zealous, stalkerish messages appearing on her blog.
Yuzuki weaves metaphor seamlessly into this slowly building character study, setting the strained competition of Eriko and Shoko’s relationship against Eriko’s job in the commodity world. Eriko is working on reopening Japan to the import of Nile perch, a carnivorous species that detrimentally dominates ecosystems. The aggressive fish become a central symbol in the novel, as Eriko’s highly structured, organized life and her need to be the singular focus in relationships crowd out everything else.
Through Eriko and Shoko, Yuzuki offers a scathing portrayal of the impact of misogyny on women’s interpersonal dynamics and private and public lives. Hooked is a hypnotic exploration of the fine line between perception and delusion, and the devastation when a friendship combusts.