Originally published in 1997 in Japanese, Mieko Kanai’s Mild Vertigo has only just been translated into English this year. The translation by Polly Barton is superb, it feels extremely fresh and I can’t say if that’s because the translation was just done this year, or if the original text was slightly ahead of its time.

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It depicts the day-to-day life of Natsumi, a housewife living in Tokyo who finds herself slowly drowning in the mundane chores and tasks of motherhood. Now it’s not railing against stay-at-home mothers, as we all know that as long as there’s a choice involved, you do you. But Natsumi finds herself where she is because of societal constraints, and you can feel her straining against the boundaries of the box she’s been put in.

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I love the style, with long, run-on sentences following Natsumi’s train of thought as she goes about her days. On the surface her thoughts are consumed by her neighbours gossiping, supermarket layouts, kids uniform, but is occasionally interrupted by episodes of existential ennui, when Natsumi finds herself hypnotised by the stream of water coming out the tap. There was only one section that flew over my head completely - an essay that she reads that’s written out in full that I just did not understand at all 😅

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As Natsumi begins to push back slightly against her prescribed role, we see the effect it has on her family. We even see her husband’s weaponised incompetence at play when, after a fight, Natsumi shuts herself in the bathroom and he is forced to confront the reality of his own kids’ nighttime routine, about which he has no clue. It’s infuriating and highlights how often it is women alone shouldering the emotional and physical labour of child-rearing.

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Greatly enjoyed, and made me want to pick up Ducks, Newburyport! (Don’t hold me to that).