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Now You're One of Us
Blood Is Thicker Than Tears
In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, here is a new classic about the bride who's no longer sure what to think. All families have their own rituals, secrets, and credos, like a miniature religious cult; these quirks may elicit the mirth or mild alarm of guests, but the matter is rather more serious if you're marrying into a household. If it's a Japanese one with a history, then brace yourself: some surprising truths lurk around the corner.
The Shitos: eight people, four generations, one household, with young newlywed Noriko joining the clan to make nine. Her husband Kazuhito adores her to distraction and her in-laws seem to be the most good-natured people imaginable. The family owns a thriving business and lives on a sprawling estate in the suburbs of Tokyo where they've created a floral paradise. Once a series of strange events and inconsistencies trigger Noriko's suspicions, however, reality becomes inseparable from her own darkest imaginings.
In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, here is a new classic about the bride who's no longer sure what to think. All families have their own rituals, secrets, and credos, like a miniature religious cult; these quirks may elicit the mirth or mild alarm of guests, but the matter is rather more serious if you're marrying into a household. If it's a Japanese one with a history, then brace yourself: some surprising truths lurk around the corner.
The Shitos: eight people, four generations, one household, with young newlywed Noriko joining the clan to make nine. Her husband Kazuhito adores her to distraction and her in-laws seem to be the most good-natured people imaginable. The family owns a thriving business and lives on a sprawling estate in the suburbs of Tokyo where they've created a floral paradise. Once a series of strange events and inconsistencies trigger Noriko's suspicions, however, reality becomes inseparable from her own darkest imaginings.
239 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
June 24, 2020
and now i know there is such thing as japanese gothic! i knew japanese horror, but this is more specific: it's got all the crumbling mansions and sexual taboos and whispered midnight conversations of my preferred irish gothic, only farther away. and it's not bad. the back copy said it was like rebecca meets rosemary's baby, and dana said she didn't understand what that could mean, but after reading it, i do. it's not inaccurate. and now i know something dana doesn't know. so that's two things learned. not a bad day...
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June 24, 2008
No guts, no glory! After a long, frustrating crawl toward the denouement and climax of the novel, the characters fail to deliver any truly chilling, compelling, titillating or otherwise moving material. Noriko, the heroine of this story, is constantly feeling faint, sweating profusely due to her "nerves," weeping or insufferably blurting out her suspicions to the bad guys with no hope of taking action. I found myself begging her to do something interesting, or at least spy effectively on her creepy in-laws. Instead, she is reduced to a simpering, impotent zombie with no hope of self-actualization. Plus, the sexual content is wholly bland, if a little yucky. Definitely seems written for mainstream consumption, without much passion or craft.
November 21, 2019
The title tells you this book will be creepy, the cover tells you it'll be gross, and the book turned out to be the perfect composite of creepy and gross I was looking for.
August 7, 2020
Noriko marries into the Shito family and as she settles into married life and being part of her new family she begins to have suspicions that all is not as it seems.
The comparison to Rosemary's Baby is spot on and it almost feels like a retelling at times with some story beats being almost identical. (The mention of anime character Honeybee Hutch has to be a reference to Rosemary's friend Hutch, right?) But Nonami still manages to make the story feel like its own thing and it goes in a different direction than what you might expect.
The story hooked me from page one as Noriko has an interaction with a neighbour which sets off the feeling that something isn't quite right. The atmosphere, the mystery and the feeling of unease were very well crafted. I would say it's an interesting mix of psychological and gothic horror in a contemporary setting.
The matriarchal 'Great Granny' was such a brilliant character; so enigmatic and powerful beneath her frail exterior. In fact, all of the characters were interesting in their own way and Noriko was a believable and relatable protagonist. The only negative for me was that Noriko goes back and forth quite a bit in the way she feels about the family and I felt that got a bit repetitive.
If you're looking for a story about a family with a dark secret then look no further!
The comparison to Rosemary's Baby is spot on and it almost feels like a retelling at times with some story beats being almost identical. (The mention of anime character Honeybee Hutch has to be a reference to Rosemary's friend Hutch, right?) But Nonami still manages to make the story feel like its own thing and it goes in a different direction than what you might expect.
The story hooked me from page one as Noriko has an interaction with a neighbour which sets off the feeling that something isn't quite right. The atmosphere, the mystery and the feeling of unease were very well crafted. I would say it's an interesting mix of psychological and gothic horror in a contemporary setting.
The matriarchal 'Great Granny' was such a brilliant character; so enigmatic and powerful beneath her frail exterior. In fact, all of the characters were interesting in their own way and Noriko was a believable and relatable protagonist. The only negative for me was that Noriko goes back and forth quite a bit in the way she feels about the family and I felt that got a bit repetitive.
If you're looking for a story about a family with a dark secret then look no further!
February 5, 2017
A woman marries after a whirlwind romance. She goes to live with her husband and the in laws in a massive house, where four generations of a very close family live in harmony. The family are perfect, too perfect in many ways, and minor anomalies begin to grate. But the family is close knit and she cannot penetrative their defences.
Random acquaintances hint at secrets and wrongdoings, and there are a series of strange events and happenings - murders and miracles maybe. Is she imagining things?
We have a 98 year old matriarch who may be a drug dealer, and just who killed a family of four who lived in a house rented from the in laws? We have a "cripple" who can walk and a "mute" that can talk.
Competent psychological thriller.
Did I mention that the family was close ......
Random acquaintances hint at secrets and wrongdoings, and there are a series of strange events and happenings - murders and miracles maybe. Is she imagining things?
We have a 98 year old matriarch who may be a drug dealer, and just who killed a family of four who lived in a house rented from the in laws? We have a "cripple" who can walk and a "mute" that can talk.
Competent psychological thriller.
Did I mention that the family was close ......
July 19, 2020
***Spoilers included***
Well, I can’t speak to the writing style since this was a translation and that wouldn’t be fair, so I’ll stick with the plot. This book was WTF and not in a “good” way for a thriller.
Plot: Against her mother and friend’s advice, Noriko moves into the Shitos’s house after marrying the son, a family of eight including a great grandmother who allegedly can’t walk, a grandfather who allegedly can’t talk, a mentally impaired brother and his alleged sister, a mother and father, and the husband. The family fawns over Noriko constantly, but she can’t shake odd events such as a man and his family dying in a gas explosion in one of the Shitos’s rental buildings after he tried to warn Noriko of something, seeing the great grandmother walk, hearing the grandfather talk, the sister and mentally impaired brother taking a bath together (and her sticking her finger up his butt to relieve constipation...which might have been the only other disturbing part of the book besides the climax...pun intended). Noriko finds out the family has been drugging her and instead of running away, she cries a lot and allows the family to find out she suspects them. Eventually, they drug and gaslight her enough to reveal that they’re just a largest incest family and she accepts it as some kind of noble thing. Then, she somewhat willingly (I guess? It’s weird since she’s been drugged) has sex with all of the males of the family in a crazed orgy and helps the family drug her friend so they can have another woman join.
I was disappointed because I was hoping for supernatural elements since it was compared to Rosemary’s Baby, but no. Just pretty standard incest and a cultish family. It was a short read, so I wasn’t too annoyed that it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I definitely think it was misbranded. It was also frustrating how powerless Noriko was even before the drugging. It would probably make a better movie. I will say that it's unfortunately pretty memorable because, again, WTF.
Well, I can’t speak to the writing style since this was a translation and that wouldn’t be fair, so I’ll stick with the plot. This book was WTF and not in a “good” way for a thriller.
Plot: Against her mother and friend’s advice, Noriko moves into the Shitos’s house after marrying the son, a family of eight including a great grandmother who allegedly can’t walk, a grandfather who allegedly can’t talk, a mentally impaired brother and his alleged sister, a mother and father, and the husband. The family fawns over Noriko constantly, but she can’t shake odd events such as a man and his family dying in a gas explosion in one of the Shitos’s rental buildings after he tried to warn Noriko of something, seeing the great grandmother walk, hearing the grandfather talk, the sister and mentally impaired brother taking a bath together (and her sticking her finger up his butt to relieve constipation...which might have been the only other disturbing part of the book besides the climax...pun intended). Noriko finds out the family has been drugging her and instead of running away, she cries a lot and allows the family to find out she suspects them. Eventually, they drug and gaslight her enough to reveal that they’re just a largest incest family and she accepts it as some kind of noble thing. Then, she somewhat willingly (I guess? It’s weird since she’s been drugged) has sex with all of the males of the family in a crazed orgy and helps the family drug her friend so they can have another woman join.
I was disappointed because I was hoping for supernatural elements since it was compared to Rosemary’s Baby, but no. Just pretty standard incest and a cultish family. It was a short read, so I wasn’t too annoyed that it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I definitely think it was misbranded. It was also frustrating how powerless Noriko was even before the drugging. It would probably make a better movie. I will say that it's unfortunately pretty memorable because, again, WTF.
March 13, 2020
Bro What In The Fuck
January 20, 2020
Dark, disturbing psychological read. Noriko accepts an offer of an arranged marriage. She goes to live with her large family but things just don't ring true. Unnerving!
July 3, 2023
The ending made this one worth it for me!
September 5, 2016
This Japanese horror-mystery is a waste of space on the paper it was printed on.
Now You're One Of Us tells the story of a young naive bride Noriko who, despite her reservations, moves in with her handsome, sweet husband Kazuhito's large family, which is made up of four generations of Shitos. They seem the perfect family at first, always cheerful, warm and friendly. But maybe there's more to them than meets the eye...
Are the close-knit Shitos hiding a gross secret? Is the heroine Noriko going crazy?
In terms of plotting, described as part Rosemary's Baby and part Rebecca, but succeeding in being neither of those great classics, NYOOU progresses at a snail's pace after the first third. It offers little in the form of twists and turns, but has a nice atmosphere of dread at the start which disintergrates into repetitiveness and silly melodrama.
Even the climax isn't satisfying. I guessed the majority of the plot; it wasn't too difficult to figure out that they were a bunch of incestuous weirdos. Although, the Shitos would say they're only trying to keep their bloodline "pure". I mean, come on. What an utterly stupid plot.
It has all the ingredients for a spooky little tale at the beginning: an old mysterious tenant of the Shitos disturbing Noriko, a sinister murder-suicide, a too-close relationship between handicapped brother and big "sister", a creepy old great-grandmother, you think the story is going to take you on a chilling ghost train, full of scares and tension. Unfortunately, the novel loses steam and becomes awkwardly boring the rest of the way through.
The plot consisted of this: Noriko sees/hears weird things, The Shitos try to reassure her, Noriko's offended and jealous that they're so close, she gets paranoid, Noriko meets up with Tomoni; Noriko sees/hears weird things... blah blah. So monotonous. Any tension that the author built up before is lost because she sticks to this structure so much. It's a shame because Nonami's writing is solid, if a little emotionally hollow and humourless.
Noriko is so annoying and stupid. She tells the family about her suspicions about them EVERY TIME. Any normal person with sense would just flee their mansion and go home. God, I wanted to slap this little bitch. She was so insecure and needy, needing to get one up on her friend Tomoni every time they met to discuss The Shitos. There wasn't any development with her character and the rest of the cultish clan were creepy and dull.
I wouldn't classify this as a horror or crime novel. Maybe more a psychological-suspense, I don't know.
Just avoid this and read Rebecca or Rosemary's Baby. You'll save a lot of boredom and frustration.
Now You're One Of Us tells the story of a young naive bride Noriko who, despite her reservations, moves in with her handsome, sweet husband Kazuhito's large family, which is made up of four generations of Shitos. They seem the perfect family at first, always cheerful, warm and friendly. But maybe there's more to them than meets the eye...
Are the close-knit Shitos hiding a gross secret? Is the heroine Noriko going crazy?
In terms of plotting, described as part Rosemary's Baby and part Rebecca, but succeeding in being neither of those great classics, NYOOU progresses at a snail's pace after the first third. It offers little in the form of twists and turns, but has a nice atmosphere of dread at the start which disintergrates into repetitiveness and silly melodrama.
Even the climax isn't satisfying. I guessed the majority of the plot; it wasn't too difficult to figure out that they were a bunch of incestuous weirdos. Although, the Shitos would say they're only trying to keep their bloodline "pure". I mean, come on. What an utterly stupid plot.
It has all the ingredients for a spooky little tale at the beginning: an old mysterious tenant of the Shitos disturbing Noriko, a sinister murder-suicide, a too-close relationship between handicapped brother and big "sister", a creepy old great-grandmother, you think the story is going to take you on a chilling ghost train, full of scares and tension. Unfortunately, the novel loses steam and becomes awkwardly boring the rest of the way through.
The plot consisted of this: Noriko sees/hears weird things, The Shitos try to reassure her, Noriko's offended and jealous that they're so close, she gets paranoid, Noriko meets up with Tomoni; Noriko sees/hears weird things... blah blah. So monotonous. Any tension that the author built up before is lost because she sticks to this structure so much. It's a shame because Nonami's writing is solid, if a little emotionally hollow and humourless.
Noriko is so annoying and stupid. She tells the family about her suspicions about them EVERY TIME. Any normal person with sense would just flee their mansion and go home. God, I wanted to slap this little bitch. She was so insecure and needy, needing to get one up on her friend Tomoni every time they met to discuss The Shitos. There wasn't any development with her character and the rest of the cultish clan were creepy and dull.
I wouldn't classify this as a horror or crime novel. Maybe more a psychological-suspense, I don't know.
Just avoid this and read Rebecca or Rosemary's Baby. You'll save a lot of boredom and frustration.
June 1, 2024
…..so I got this book bc it reminded me of the movie “Get Out” which I thought was a good creepy movie. This book DOES deliver but the twist???? dear lord???????????
May 22, 2023
"We have no need to hide or conceal anything from one another. We are a family united by blood!"
This was a fantastic work of psychological suspense at the hands of author Asa Nonami! Having never read this author before but knowing full well I will be reading more, I can honestly say Now You're One of Us is a great book to start with!
A young woman named Noriko marries into a large wealthy family. Her husband lives with his parents, grandparents, two siblings, and great grandmother, making a household of 9 altogether including our protagonist. Noriko feels lucky to have married into a family that is so warm, welcoming, and admiring of everything she does. Her new life is almost too good to be true. But then so-called friends of the family die in a terrible incident and Noriko starts to grow suspicious of circumstances that lead back to the household she's become a part of.
From the very first chapter, alarm bells started ringing in my brain and I kept thinking "Something isn't right!" I am a firm believer in listening to one's intuitions, but our poor protagonist was at war with herself--wondering if she should act on her paranoid suspicions or trust the family that had lovingly taken her under their wing.
I also agree with others' reviews--that the book is a little bit reminiscent of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby in the sense that you've got a young woman trusting people who claim to have her best interest at heart while also hiding ulterior motives.
Unsettling, claustrophobic, and suspenseful. I loved it!
This was a fantastic work of psychological suspense at the hands of author Asa Nonami! Having never read this author before but knowing full well I will be reading more, I can honestly say Now You're One of Us is a great book to start with!
A young woman named Noriko marries into a large wealthy family. Her husband lives with his parents, grandparents, two siblings, and great grandmother, making a household of 9 altogether including our protagonist. Noriko feels lucky to have married into a family that is so warm, welcoming, and admiring of everything she does. Her new life is almost too good to be true. But then so-called friends of the family die in a terrible incident and Noriko starts to grow suspicious of circumstances that lead back to the household she's become a part of.
From the very first chapter, alarm bells started ringing in my brain and I kept thinking "Something isn't right!" I am a firm believer in listening to one's intuitions, but our poor protagonist was at war with herself--wondering if she should act on her paranoid suspicions or trust the family that had lovingly taken her under their wing.
I also agree with others' reviews--that the book is a little bit reminiscent of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby in the sense that you've got a young woman trusting people who claim to have her best interest at heart while also hiding ulterior motives.
Unsettling, claustrophobic, and suspenseful. I loved it!
June 30, 2024
Ok, so this is a hard one to review because it’s translated from Japanese. I don’t know how much of the language in the writing was actually intended in the original telling, and how much are more Japanese social norms. The writing did irk me. There were instances of ‘women of a certain age’ giving a confident look or some sort of response. Like why call that out? The main character was super wishy-washy and extremely dramatic. Again, I couldn’t tell if this was lost in translation or more of a cultural thing.
Overall, I did like the story; it was messed up!! It did read more like YA to me.
Overall, I did like the story; it was messed up!! It did read more like YA to me.
December 19, 2020
Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this dark and deeply uncomfortable Japanese gothic tale about a woman who moves in with her wealthy in-laws and realizes there is something very, very wrong with her new family. The beginning is a little slow, and this is quite a short novel that could do with more build-up, but all throughout there is this sense of dread and wrongness that descended upon me. I had to finish it soon because I couldn't imagine stretching out my discomfort. Noriko's descent into paranoia and eventual cult-like brainwashing made me emotionally recoil. So messed up.
I assume this novel is set in the 80s but it's got a really old, timeless feel. It helps to have some knowledge about Japanese culture, especially in regards to ie, the family structure, and traditional gender roles.
Highly recommended for fans of traditional gothic fiction. Acquiring this novel was really difficult, but you can find second-hand physical copies from Amazon.
I assume this novel is set in the 80s but it's got a really old, timeless feel. It helps to have some knowledge about Japanese culture, especially in regards to ie, the family structure, and traditional gender roles.
Highly recommended for fans of traditional gothic fiction. Acquiring this novel was really difficult, but you can find second-hand physical copies from Amazon.
September 8, 2022
Good ol’ gaslighting family cult and their going’s-on.
May 17, 2023
Oh boy….
Well, this one is a mysterious story about a sinister, oddly friendly family that a woman marries into and you the reader are pretty sure that something really horrific is going to happen at some point. It’s fairly tame for the most part until close to the end, when the “third act” of the story gets absolutely BATSHIT weird and then horribly bleak.
Is the read worth it? Maybe… The biggest issue is the main character Noriko does a LOT of very foolish things. I kept hoping she would grow a spine and when she finally did stand up for herself she did it at the most idiotic time and place that I basically stopped rooting for her. The first half of the book is pretty frustrating a lot of the time. It's not entirely her fault, because this is a case study in group manipulation.
Though strangely, I gradually found myself drawn into the story the further I read. Perhaps I was being brainwashed or manipulated in much the same way that the Shito family was controlling Noriko, who caved to their convincing easily and often despite her misgivings. It was an interesting experience. I also just wanted to find out what was going to happen.
That third act, though…I knew the book was building to something big and I kind of had an inkling what I was in for, (the clues aren't subtle), but those scenes made me feel the same way that I felt while watching the last twenty minutes of “Mother.” The actual content was very different, but the vibes were similar. My jaw was CLENCHED!
I’m so sorry, but the biggest trigger warning in this is also the biggest spoiler. Feel free to ask me directly if you need to know. To be perfectly honest, I did give this book 3 stars but I probably wouldn’t recommend it in good faith to anyone. The last chapter was pretty depressing, but you might want to read this if you seek out the dark, twisted stuff.
Gotta give props though, for the simple yet effective cover.
Well, this one is a mysterious story about a sinister, oddly friendly family that a woman marries into and you the reader are pretty sure that something really horrific is going to happen at some point. It’s fairly tame for the most part until close to the end, when the “third act” of the story gets absolutely BATSHIT weird and then horribly bleak.
Is the read worth it? Maybe… The biggest issue is the main character Noriko does a LOT of very foolish things. I kept hoping she would grow a spine and when she finally did stand up for herself she did it at the most idiotic time and place that I basically stopped rooting for her. The first half of the book is pretty frustrating a lot of the time. It's not entirely her fault, because this is a case study in group manipulation.
Though strangely, I gradually found myself drawn into the story the further I read. Perhaps I was being brainwashed or manipulated in much the same way that the Shito family was controlling Noriko, who caved to their convincing easily and often despite her misgivings. It was an interesting experience. I also just wanted to find out what was going to happen.
That third act, though…I knew the book was building to something big and I kind of had an inkling what I was in for, (the clues aren't subtle), but those scenes made me feel the same way that I felt while watching the last twenty minutes of “Mother.” The actual content was very different, but the vibes were similar. My jaw was CLENCHED!
I’m so sorry, but the biggest trigger warning in this is also the biggest spoiler. Feel free to ask me directly if you need to know. To be perfectly honest, I did give this book 3 stars but I probably wouldn’t recommend it in good faith to anyone. The last chapter was pretty depressing, but you might want to read this if you seek out the dark, twisted stuff.
Gotta give props though, for the simple yet effective cover.
April 2, 2022
Study on emotional manipulation abuse dynamics within families, that places the blame not just on family members themselves - but the structure of 'the family', and the relations of multiple families within a community.
When at the Shitos' home (the multi-generation home that Noriko moves into after marrying), the Shitos intentionally limit Noriko's emotions through co-operation. By the eight members, say, all acting happy - it creates no room for Noriko to express any other emotion. Carrying the weight of having another emotion is stressful, so the only answer (for Noriko) is to go along with it.
In another case, Noriko has the emotion of sadness, because of her confusion, and that she's never seen the family cry due to their weird emotional manipulation. The family doesn't want her to be sad, so they all start crying at once as if to prove that they can cry. This united front of sadness is hard for Noriko to be around to the point she starts to really feel that her sadness caused the family to be sad.
I've seen a few reviews here wondering why Noriko doesn't "just walk away..." is it ever that easy to "just walk away" from an abusive situation? What about one inscribed within 1990's Japanese marriage culture and sexism? A woman marries *out* of the family, a woman usually loses her last name (even today, in a marriage of two Japanese nationals, one person is forced to lose their last name.) Noriko marries into the family partially due to her family's obligation to a matchmaker family friend. Growing up as the average woman in Japan, Noriko isn't in tune with her needs as a human and instead relies on romantic ideals when vetting out her husband. Further she has no job, lives with her family, and is more or less isolated, only having one friend, Tomomi. Presumably, Noriko's family is fairly traditional too: they remain hands-off after Noriko leaves for her husband's home.
This paints a picture of someone who's already trapped from the start! Her dice roll of a partner just happened to be much worse than the average woman.
I think the key problem here is Noriko having few friends. In the moments she manages to escape the household's emotional manipulation and she meets with Tomomi, Noriko finally manages to doubt the family's actions (covered murders, a cult-ish atmosphere, emotional abuse...). It doesn't manage to be enough, in the end (Tomomi gets drawn into the family - likely due to her lack of a support network). If Noriko had more of a support network, then, maybe... she could have escaped?
She has no one to talk to. Her phone calls are monitored, and there's pressure against her for divorcing or leaving, especially having married into a wealthy family.
---
As for the family - well, they're generally painted as villains, but with the incest reveals towards the end, it's understood that most members in that family were emotionally manipulated generation after generation. Sure, it's 'implausible', but to me that implausibility serves more of a symbolic role for the ways in which familial secrecy and abuse carry through generations - and the way in which it can damage people who are drawn into families through birth or marriage relations. Certainly if Noriko could *just leave* and find 'a new family' she wouldn't have so many issues! But the gravitational force of families in this novel's social context is gigantic.
Lastly, the Shito family itself is in a way a victim. The reveal of them selling non-addictive natural drugs in order to combat a drug pandemic in the Philippines - and their later ostracizing by other families - is important. (If we take it at face value as true, I mean, who knows...) For one, it drives the great-grandmother to her cultish extremism and incestuous obsessions. It seems clear that - at some point in the past, maybe even now, the ways families as a social unit interact are competitive, with potential for exclusion and exile. A social structure that focuses on consolidating and building wealth, trading women as property... such a structure - while it may have its fun moments - still has the potential for entrapment and is built on a cold logic.
-
Regarding the cult-esque stuff in this book - published in 1993, that's 2 years before the Sarin Gas Attack. It's also a few years after the bubble burst... I don't know the details, but I wonder if the cult psychology aspects of this novel were related to the period at all..? People joining new religions... (I don't know how 'real' the cult dynamics are - but I think as my review showed, whether they're 'real' or not barely matters for the ideas of the novel).
Last thoughts, I just also liked Nonami Asa's ability of blending mystery structures with a surreal, horror-esque atmosphere and psychological world-building.
...Last last thoughts. I can't stand a lot of Goodreads reviews! What's with people and comparing it to the books the marketing copy said it was like? It's marketing copy, not law of nature! No one's forcing you to find comparisons between the marketing copy and the book.
Why are people comparing this Japanese '90s writer to some '60s or older horror book? Why is it being called the "Blah Blah American Genre" of Japanese fiction? And let's not start on the moral crusader reviews -god, if I have to read another review that's like "Ugh. That's not what should have happened! 3/5" or the strangely misogynist and racist reviews "Wow, why did this little oriental woman NOT leave this family? She is so dumb... 2/5 ("Added to shelves: hate-it nope-no-way ugghh")"
I don't know if it's the American English education system or the literary industry or something, but something needs to be set on fire and redone...
When at the Shitos' home (the multi-generation home that Noriko moves into after marrying), the Shitos intentionally limit Noriko's emotions through co-operation. By the eight members, say, all acting happy - it creates no room for Noriko to express any other emotion. Carrying the weight of having another emotion is stressful, so the only answer (for Noriko) is to go along with it.
In another case, Noriko has the emotion of sadness, because of her confusion, and that she's never seen the family cry due to their weird emotional manipulation. The family doesn't want her to be sad, so they all start crying at once as if to prove that they can cry. This united front of sadness is hard for Noriko to be around to the point she starts to really feel that her sadness caused the family to be sad.
I've seen a few reviews here wondering why Noriko doesn't "just walk away..." is it ever that easy to "just walk away" from an abusive situation? What about one inscribed within 1990's Japanese marriage culture and sexism? A woman marries *out* of the family, a woman usually loses her last name (even today, in a marriage of two Japanese nationals, one person is forced to lose their last name.) Noriko marries into the family partially due to her family's obligation to a matchmaker family friend. Growing up as the average woman in Japan, Noriko isn't in tune with her needs as a human and instead relies on romantic ideals when vetting out her husband. Further she has no job, lives with her family, and is more or less isolated, only having one friend, Tomomi. Presumably, Noriko's family is fairly traditional too: they remain hands-off after Noriko leaves for her husband's home.
This paints a picture of someone who's already trapped from the start! Her dice roll of a partner just happened to be much worse than the average woman.
I think the key problem here is Noriko having few friends. In the moments she manages to escape the household's emotional manipulation and she meets with Tomomi, Noriko finally manages to doubt the family's actions (covered murders, a cult-ish atmosphere, emotional abuse...). It doesn't manage to be enough, in the end (Tomomi gets drawn into the family - likely due to her lack of a support network). If Noriko had more of a support network, then, maybe... she could have escaped?
She has no one to talk to. Her phone calls are monitored, and there's pressure against her for divorcing or leaving, especially having married into a wealthy family.
---
As for the family - well, they're generally painted as villains, but with the incest reveals towards the end, it's understood that most members in that family were emotionally manipulated generation after generation. Sure, it's 'implausible', but to me that implausibility serves more of a symbolic role for the ways in which familial secrecy and abuse carry through generations - and the way in which it can damage people who are drawn into families through birth or marriage relations. Certainly if Noriko could *just leave* and find 'a new family' she wouldn't have so many issues! But the gravitational force of families in this novel's social context is gigantic.
Lastly, the Shito family itself is in a way a victim. The reveal of them selling non-addictive natural drugs in order to combat a drug pandemic in the Philippines - and their later ostracizing by other families - is important. (If we take it at face value as true, I mean, who knows...) For one, it drives the great-grandmother to her cultish extremism and incestuous obsessions. It seems clear that - at some point in the past, maybe even now, the ways families as a social unit interact are competitive, with potential for exclusion and exile. A social structure that focuses on consolidating and building wealth, trading women as property... such a structure - while it may have its fun moments - still has the potential for entrapment and is built on a cold logic.
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Regarding the cult-esque stuff in this book - published in 1993, that's 2 years before the Sarin Gas Attack. It's also a few years after the bubble burst... I don't know the details, but I wonder if the cult psychology aspects of this novel were related to the period at all..? People joining new religions... (I don't know how 'real' the cult dynamics are - but I think as my review showed, whether they're 'real' or not barely matters for the ideas of the novel).
Last thoughts, I just also liked Nonami Asa's ability of blending mystery structures with a surreal, horror-esque atmosphere and psychological world-building.
...Last last thoughts. I can't stand a lot of Goodreads reviews! What's with people and comparing it to the books the marketing copy said it was like? It's marketing copy, not law of nature! No one's forcing you to find comparisons between the marketing copy and the book.
Why are people comparing this Japanese '90s writer to some '60s or older horror book? Why is it being called the "Blah Blah American Genre" of Japanese fiction? And let's not start on the moral crusader reviews -god, if I have to read another review that's like "Ugh. That's not what should have happened! 3/5" or the strangely misogynist and racist reviews "Wow, why did this little oriental woman NOT leave this family? She is so dumb... 2/5 ("Added to shelves: hate-it nope-no-way ugghh")"
I don't know if it's the American English education system or the literary industry or something, but something needs to be set on fire and redone...
November 21, 2024
What a fun, fucked up, little Japanese gem this turned out to be. Gaslighting, drugs, icky sex… it’s really got something for everyone. I will say that it’s a bit too long. There’s a lot of exposition and inner monologuing that was unnecessarily repetitive. Also, because it’s a translation, the writing style may not be an accurate representation of the author’s style. Those minor criticisms aside, I really liked this one.
February 9, 2022
I've been dying to read this. But somehow it fell flat. Every family has secrets and I sure felt what the main character felt being on the outside. But maybe the reader should have been let in a bit more.
It was still creepy and very gothic.
It was still creepy and very gothic.
February 10, 2019
Nonami has been on my list for a long while, and I was drawn to this book in part because of the intriguing cover. It makes me a bit squeamish, and the juxtaposition between cleanliness and dirtiness and all the unspoken mystery evoked with just that one little hair signaling that something is out of place is pretty impressive.
The narrative follows main character Noriko, who has just married into a wealthy family and is expected to live at the family home with all her husband’s relatives. They are perfectly nice and welcoming to her, from her new mother-in-law to the family matriarch, a centenarian who appears frail but still has a sharp mind. But it is clear that something isn’t quite right in the house, with the family, and Noriko grows steadily more paranoid and distraught as she overhears whispered conversations in the night, glimpses strange interactions, and wonders just what they are growing in the garden.
This is definitely a slow-burning, gothic-horror type novel. I can understand the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby and Rebecca, though I’d rank both of those classics above this book. As I was reading, I consistently felt a sense of dread creeping throughout the tone and texture of the pages even though there didn’t seem to be an immediate threat. It keeps you on edge, wondering if Noriko is overreacting to every little thing or if she isn’t seeing the whole picture.
The fact that she is totally alone, the sole ally in enemy territory, makes this an interesting read. You don’t know what it is that makes the nice family she is now living with seem to foreign and suspect, but it is clear there is something wrong, something they don’t want her to know!
For much of the story, the main character felt fairly inactive to me, vacillating between acceptance of what what going on and doing what was asked of her blindly and then switching to struggling with her conspiracy theories and flinging wild accusations right at the rest of the family. The plot did repeat a bit in this way, and I wished that Noriko could have tried different tactics throughout the book.
Overall though, I was impressed with the atmosphere and the weirdness at the end. I am looking forward to trying Body, which is one of Nonami’s more famous novels.
The narrative follows main character Noriko, who has just married into a wealthy family and is expected to live at the family home with all her husband’s relatives. They are perfectly nice and welcoming to her, from her new mother-in-law to the family matriarch, a centenarian who appears frail but still has a sharp mind. But it is clear that something isn’t quite right in the house, with the family, and Noriko grows steadily more paranoid and distraught as she overhears whispered conversations in the night, glimpses strange interactions, and wonders just what they are growing in the garden.
This is definitely a slow-burning, gothic-horror type novel. I can understand the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby and Rebecca, though I’d rank both of those classics above this book. As I was reading, I consistently felt a sense of dread creeping throughout the tone and texture of the pages even though there didn’t seem to be an immediate threat. It keeps you on edge, wondering if Noriko is overreacting to every little thing or if she isn’t seeing the whole picture.
The fact that she is totally alone, the sole ally in enemy territory, makes this an interesting read. You don’t know what it is that makes the nice family she is now living with seem to foreign and suspect, but it is clear there is something wrong, something they don’t want her to know!
For much of the story, the main character felt fairly inactive to me, vacillating between acceptance of what what going on and doing what was asked of her blindly and then switching to struggling with her conspiracy theories and flinging wild accusations right at the rest of the family. The plot did repeat a bit in this way, and I wished that Noriko could have tried different tactics throughout the book.
Overall though, I was impressed with the atmosphere and the weirdness at the end. I am looking forward to trying Body, which is one of Nonami’s more famous novels.
May 2, 2021
I had really high hopes for this book after seeing it on a buzzfeed list and the concept really intrigued me. However, the main character, Noriko, is frustrating through the entire book and annoying. And nothing really exciting or interesting happens the entire time, and then the actual “twist” which is obvious though out the entire book is not shocking or crazy or thrilling but just outright gross. It’s short and a quick read but even the little time I spent reading this book was honestly a waste.
May 8, 2023
This was such a rollercoaster! Like “Rosemary’s Baby” meets “Earthlings.” The ending was sickening. Yet the thriller aspects of it were fun!
January 5, 2024
No matter if you enjoy or hate the book's style. No matter if you think it stands as it's own work or is merely derivative of works like Rosemary's Baby. Whether or not it answers all your questions or you think it gives too much information. You gotta admit. Noriko do be dabbing away the sweat at her brow.
3.5-ish to 4 Stars
Jan. 5, 2023
3.5-ish to 4 Stars
Jan. 5, 2023
August 12, 2021
There's something understated about Japanese horror that makes it a refreshing change from American horror. Instead of focusing on thrills and kills, the pacing is much slower and the build up might not be fast enough for everyone. Instead, I found myself focusing on the cultural differences between Japanese and Americans. The choices that the main character made (or was forced into) was questionable and I found myself wondering how much of this was due to these cultural differences. She was so subservient to the family she married into, it was difficult to tell if she had a personality apart from being a daughter-in-law and wife.
As far as the plot went, I was okay with it until the big reveal. This was fairly easy to figure out, due to the hints throughout. The reveal was icky and unsettling, which is the point of horror, I guess. I would give this book a 3.5.
As far as the plot went, I was okay with it until the big reveal. This was fairly easy to figure out, due to the hints throughout. The reveal was icky and unsettling, which is the point of horror, I guess. I would give this book a 3.5.
February 19, 2024
100527: popular fiction with that japanese tendency to long, moody, searching emotional repression- then eruption of almost hysterical (not in the funny way) intensity and strangeness. that this is popular japanese fiction… well i like it much more than rosemary’s baby. does not ask reader to believe efficacy and truth of satanic rituals, just weird and oppressive evil camouflaged by overly polite, kindly-seeming family...
May 2, 2019
I enjoyed this story; although I believe a deeper understanding of Japanese culture on my part would have enhanced the layers Nonami placed within her novel. The story is psychological horror, and Noriko's slow descent and acceptance into the family she marries into is riveting, but those expecting an American aesthetic to the narrative might be disappointed. This is simply a story in which the reader must trust the author.
February 18, 2009
Maybe something was lost in the traslation of this book, but I thought it was just dull. Instead of creating an atmosphere of suspense, the author just states the facts. Could have been a really creepy book.
February 14, 2010
EW!!!! I was totally prepared to give this book four stars until I almost threw-up over the ending! I really liked it up until that part, but I just cannot give it a higher rating after THAT. Too gross...too bad!
July 1, 2019
Dark and unsettling.
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