The Tale of Kaho

The new novel from the beloved and internationally bestselling author of The City and Its Uncertain Walls: the story of a children’s book illustrator and her unforgettable Kafkaesque quest.

'Reality and unreality, dream and waking - which world do I belong to now?’

One evening in Tokyo, a woman named Kaho goes on a date that sets off a strange series of events. After an unsettling dream that forces her to question her safety, Kaho moves to a new neighborhood and discovers a pair of talking anteaters living under her floorboards. They are urgently in need of help, they tell her, for an alarming task; in return, they will offer their protection. Kaho agrees to these mysterious terms and is plunged into a dark world where her loved ones become unrecognizable. As she sketches a new book about a girl struggling with abandonment, Kaho must also face the issue at the heart of her troubles: her relationship with her own mother.

The Tale of Kaho is a tour de force of imagination and intrigue, whimsy and philosophy. A fable, a journey, and a wholly propulsive story, it is the work of a writer like no other.