Hikikomori and the Rental Sister by Jeff Backhaus
An Indie Next Pick - An Amazon Best Book of the Month
One of Book Riot's 5 to Watch - An iBooks Store Editor's Choice
A mesmerizing debut at once sorrowful, intimate, and optimistic.* Megumi, a young Japanese woman living in New York and hiding from her past, is hired to help rescue Thomas, an enigmatic, scarred man who has isolated himself in his bedroom for three years. With the tacit acceptance of Thomas's wife, a passionate relationship develops between Megumi and Thomas. Its emotional impact and surprising conclusion will leave all three characters forever changed. Mirroring both East and West in its search for healing, ?
The Rental Sister pierces the emotional walls of grief and delves into the power of human connection to break through to the world waiting outside.
Strange and tender . . . [Backhaus's] writing, which is as clear and direct as flowing water, convincingly portrays the deepening connection between Thomas and Megumi. --
The Wall Street Journal Remarkable. --
The Toronto Star Written deeply, cleanly, sparely and gently, like fingers playing over the strings of a harp. Jeff Backhaus has apparently worked at many jobs, but it seems that he has now found his vocation. --
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Poignant . . . With poetic observations about the world from the view of an outsider--the outsider in a marriage, the outsider in a relationship, and Thomas, who feels like an outsider in his own life. --USAToday.com
Backhaus's novel is courageous and spare, an enthralling success. --*
Booklist, starred review
