ラ・パティスリー

洋菓子 #1

by Sayuri Ueda, 上田 早夕里

森沢夏織は、神戸にあるフランス菓子店“ロワゾ・ドール”の新米洋菓子職人。ある日の早朝、誰もいないはずの厨房で、飴細工作りに熱中している、背の高い見知らぬ男性を見つけた。男は市川恭也と名乗り、この店のシェフだと言い張ったが、記憶を失くしていた。夏織は店で働くことになった恭也に次第に惹かれていくが…。洋菓子店の裏舞台とそこに集う、恋人、夫婦、親子の切なくも愛しい人間模様を描く、パティシエ小説。大幅改稿して、待望の文庫化。

233 pages, Paperback Bunko

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Sayuri Ueda (上田 早夕里, Ueda Sayuri) is one of the more innovative science fiction authors in Japan. She made her debut in 2003 with Kasei daku barado (Mars Dark Ballad), which won the 4th Komatsu Sakyo Prize. She has published a series of highly original, much discussed works, gaining avid fans not only in Japan but throughout Asia and the West. Karyu no miya (The Ocean Chronicles) won the Hayakawa Publishing “SF ga Yomitai!” Award for Best Japanese SF Novel in 2010, as well as the 32nd Japan SF Award and 10th Sense of Gender Award in 2011. She also writes actively in genres other than science fiction, and in 2018, her historical novel Hametsu no ō (The King of Ruin) was nominated for the 159th Naoki Prize.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nameless Cake (yes, this is a book's title) is a light-hearted tale which takes place in a cake shop, featuring the workers, pâtissiers and chiefs within the shop and the main character is a guy who lost his memory (despite his memory loss, he still proofs himself a talented and seasoned pâtissier) and insists that he has always been working in the shop even though no one knows who he is.

The pacing is well set, the mysteries about the MC's past and his lost memory are handled nicely, the dramas between the shop owner and her son, the relationship about the female trainee and the MC also play out nicely. So, four stars.