Hooked

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 IN GUARDIAN VOGUE NEW YORK TIMESFORBES THE TIMES SUNDAY TIMES STYLE ELLE STYLIST BBC GRAZIABRICKS MAGAZINE RADIO TIMES LITHUB OPRAH DAILY and DAILY EXPRESS.The unmissable new novel of friendship and dangerous obsession from Asako Yuzuki theaward-winning author of the global bestselling sensation Butter.Eriko really wouldn't mind being savaged if it was her best friend doing the savaging …Eriko's life appears perfect – devoted parents pristine apartment and a high-flying job in the seafooddivision of one of Japan's largest trading companies. Her latest project to reintroduce thecontroversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market is characteristically ambitious. But beneath herflawless surface she is wracked by loneliness.Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife Shōko. Shōko’s posts abouteating convenience-store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanesehousewife’s manicured lifestyle. When Eriko tracks Shōko down at her favourite restaurant andbefriends her Shōko is at first charmed by her new companion. But soon Eriko's obsession withShōko begins to spiral out of control threatening her carefully laid plans. How far will she go to holdon to the best friend she’s ever had?Beautifully translated by Polly Barton Hooked is an unsettling story of the line between friendship anddangerous obsession and a delicious exploration of food loneliness and womanhood incontemporary Japan.