Akiko's Quiet Happiness
The Japan Trilogy, Vol. 1
$35.30
- Paperback
368 pages
- Release Date
17 February 2026
Summary
Two lonely former classmates reconnect in Tokyo and unravel a family secret in this touching new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.
Still grieving the death of her mother, 29-year-old Akiko is single and lives in self-imposed isolation in Tokyo. Then one evening, she unexpectedly runs into Kento, her first love from school. Kento now leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, only venturing out at night.
At the same time, Akiko dis…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781635425529 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1635425522 |
| Author: | Jan-Philipp Sendker, Daniel Bowles |
| Publisher: | Other Press LLC |
| Imprint: | Other Press LLC |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 368 |
| Release Date: | 17 February 2026 |
| Weight: | 369g |
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Critics Review
“Poignant and vivid…a cinematic work of rich emotional depth.” —Publishers Weekly
“Akiko’s Quiet Happiness is a restrained yet deeply moving story about the bonds and conflicts that exist within all of us. Culture, family, love, duty, and the quiet self-betrayals that both preserve and destroy us. A truly thought-provoking novel.” —Asha Lemmie, New York Times bestselling author of Fifty Words for Rain and The Wildest Sun
Praise for The Art of Hearing Heartbeats:
“A lush tale of romance and family set in mid-twentieth-century Burma…beautiful…bound to enchant readers.” —Booklist
“Magical…It’s stories like The Art of Hearing Heartbeats that show how our very existence is important…What a gift that is.” —Huffington Post
“No matter what I even attempt to say, I can’t possibly capture the absolute magic of this book. Like a spell, it haunts. Like love, it’s going to endure.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You
Jan-Philipp Sendker
Jan-Philipp Sendker, born in Hamburg in 1960, was the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he published Cracks in the Wall, a nonfiction book about China. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, his first novel, is an international best seller. He lives in Potsdam with his family.
Daniel Bowles is associate professor of German Studies at Boston College. His translation of Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash was long-listed for the 2025 International Booker Prize, and his English rendering of Kracht’s Imperium won the Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize in 2016.
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