Fault Lines: A Novel

Written by Emily Itami

Narrated by Lydia Wilson

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

""What is the cost of a mother’s desire?...Emily Itami explores this question with wit and poignancy."" -- New York Times Book Review

""The perfect marriage of Sally Rooney and early Murakami."" -- Kathy Wang, author of Impostor Syndrome

Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It’s everything a woman could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether she would rather throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her husband and hanging up laundry.

Then, one rainy night, she meets Kiyoshi, a successful restaurateur. In him, she rediscovers freedom, friendship, and the neon, electric pulse of the city she has always loved. But the further she falls into their relationship, the clearer it becomes that she is living two lives—and in the end, we can choose only one.

Funny, provocative, and startlingly honest, Fault Lines is for anyone who has ever looked in the mirror and asked, who am I and how did I get here? A bittersweet love story and a piercing portrait of female identity, it introduces Emily Itami as a debut novelist with astounding resonance and wit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Sep 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063099838

Emily Itami

Emily Itami grew up in Tokyo and returned there to live when her children were young. She now lives in London. She has been published widely as a freelance journalist and travel writer. This is her first novel. 

Reviews for Fault Lines

[Stephanie Mackey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Realistic portrayal of the ups and downs of motherhood and marriage

[wareagle78 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy Ann Rivers Siddons books, and this was no exception. Family stress over a mother-in-law with Alzheimers erupts into a run-away daughter, a fire, a movie, and a man in love with earthquakes. Some of the relationships were a bit cloying, but it was still well worth the time.

[Victoria Edelsbrunner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this so much. I think the comparison to Sally Rooney holds up but I'd say the other comparison novel would be more Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times. The narrator manages to be both immersed in Japanese culture and observing it humourously as an outsider. The story is very slice-of-life but still manages to build to a climax with a lot of poignant observations on life, marriage and motherhood. Highly recommended!

[singingnettle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining with an annoying and gratuitous ending.

[backyardhorse · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Has a lot of potential,but got a little bogged down with guilt trips.

[eliz12_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

In a word: awful.

[Tanja · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The narrator is dissatisfied by her choice of becoming a housewife and misses her life before as a young, single singer. She is self-congratulatory while also being very critical of herself and others. It wasn't my cup of tea.

[sheila1957 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mizuki is a married mother of two whose marriage has become dull. Her husband spends more time on his phone screen than interacting with her and the children. She is out with friends one day when she keeps running into Kiyoshi. After several run-ins, Kiyoshi gives her his business card. She has no intention of contacting him but one day, after words with her husband, she goes to the address on the card which turns out to be a bar that Kiyoshi owns. They begin talking and Mizuki does not follow the Japanese customs. She says what she believes, and Kiyoshi is charmed. They start going around Tokyo with Mizuki introducing Kiyoshi to parts he has never seen. Feelings develop but Mizuki will not leave her marriage because of the children. Eventually an opportunity in New York arises for Kiyoshi. Will he go? Will she? I enjoyed this book. I saw a different culture from mine with different rules and expectations. I liked Mizuki and Kiyoshi. Her children, at times, needed a kick in the behind. They were spoiled. Her husband was in the background and seemed to care more about work than the family. I never came to care much about him. When trouble comes then he wakes up. Kiyoshi worried more that her husband. I am unsure of the ending. I see it one way (and I'm not happy with it) but then the last line of the book makes me wonder if circumstances had been different if we would not be reading a different ending. This is worth reading.

[hccpsk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mizuki tries to be the perfect Japanese wife and mother, but something is missing in her life. She thinks she finds it in Kiyoshi, a man she meets while out with friends, and so she begins an affair at the center of Emily Itami’s Fault Lines. There’s not a lot of plot, and Itami only focuses on Mizuki leaving the other characters flat, but the exploration of motherhood is on point — sometimes laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes deeply emotional. At just over 200 pages, this quick read is an interesting examination of marriage and Japanese culture.