Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of Mongrel by Hanako Footman, out on 22nd February! This book was one of my January highlights, a gorgeous and heartbreaking exploration of identity, sexuality, race, sisterhood and motherhood.

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Footman gives us three narratives: Meiko is a British-Japanese girl mourning her mother, navigating her sexuality and falling hopelessly in love with her best friend. Yuki is a young Japanese woman who travels to England to attend music school, who then begins an affair with her teacher. Haruka is a Japanese woman working as a hostess while working through the tangled web of family secrets left behind after her mother passes. If I had one complaint with the book, it’s that Haruka’s storyline is brought in a bit late, I wish we had an equal amount of all three women/girls!

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All three narratives are compelling and well fleshed out, but Mei’s was my favourite. Footman perfectly captures the intensity of the relationships between teenage girls, as well as the general assault course that is teenage-girldom. She depicts how quickly best friendships can sour, subject to the often cruel whims of girls in a hurry to grow up. The competitiveness that can spring up, and of course everything heightened for Meiko who is grappling with feelings for her best friend Fran. It’s through Meiko that Footman also explores the particularly insidious brand of British racism - couched in politeness which does nothing to dull its barbs.

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A lot of difficult subjects, including rape and self-harm, are tackled within Mongrel, but Footman gives all of her characters space to grieve and heal.

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This is such an assured debut, so well plotted and the connections are revealed at a perfect pace. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!