Hanako Footman

MONGREL

UK & Commonwealth

Footnote Press

Romanian

Alice Books

Thai

Salmon Books

Ukrainian

Mamino

Film & TV

Available

Blurb

MONGREL

An exquisite debut novel weaving together the voices of three young women in Japan and the UK as the threads of their lives unspool in unexpected directions.

Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in with her peers, suppressing both her heritage and her growing love for her best friend Fran.

Yuki leaves her parents’ farm in the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist. A lonely and homesick student in London, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.

Haruka, a young bar hostess living in Tokyo, attempts to navigate the city’s underworld and all of its many vices, as she grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her.

Shifting between these three intergenerational narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of isolation, yearning, love, and ultimately, hope.

Press and Reviews

“Mongrel is a stunning read. A brilliant explosion of writing and storytelling with one of the most unique and powerful voices I’ve come across in an…”

– Aisling Bea

“An exquisite debut novel weaving together the voices of three young women in Japan and the UK as the threads of their lives intertwine in unexpected…”

– Belfast Telegraph

“A major new literary talent”

– Waterstones newsletter

“A Spring must-read!”

– Sunday Times Style Section

“This coming-of-age novel connects three Japanese women through a web of grief, love and loneliness.”

– Elle

“At once witty, honest and dark, Mongrel helps widen the canon of debut British writing.”

– Harper’s Bazaar

“Grapple[s] with how we belong anywhere with sharp precision and lyrical introspection”

– Service95 (Dua Lipa’s book club)

“An engrossing tale about living in between identities”

– i-D

“Delicious storytelling that sucks you in with its almost cinematic writing style and visceral character depiction. One of the few things I’ve read recently that just…”

– Emma Slade Edmondson, author of The Half of It

“This book is so tender and warm but also so funny, it's really stunning. Also I think it’s a book I've always wished existed, to have…”

– Claire Kohda, author of Woman Eating