Fault Lines by Emily Itami
Published by Custom House on September 7, 2021
my rating: 3.5 stars
Goodreads avg: 3.75 (as of 2022-06-16)
Spoiler-free review
Goodreads
I went into this completely cold and found myself a bit bored by it at first. Mizuki is a Japanese housewife who has spent time in America and dreams of more than domesticity. She begins an affair with a stranger, as she feels neglected by her husband and bored with her life. This sounds like the start of plenty of literary novels, but I found her relationship with Kiyoshi lovely and refreshing. I also liked that instead of causing her to drift further from her family, her relationship with Kyoshi allows her to settle more fully into her role as wife and mother when she is home. I was even quite emotional at the ending, although I knew it couldn’t have ended any other way. I’m glad to have read this and am looking forward to seeing if Itami puts out any more books. Thanks to Fatma for the rec!
Sarah Ames-Foley 
yay im so glad you liked it!! and i completely agree about it *seeming* like its about to be like every other literary novel about cheating (and dissatisfied mothers, etc) but that it somehow manages to be a really fresh take on all those tired tropes!
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