Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Mourning ClothesAuthor: Hisao Jūran
| Original Title | 喪服 |
|---|---|
| Author | 久生 十蘭 |
| Genre | War & Social Literature |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In an opulent Yokohama estate perched above icy spring seas, the fractured Hamaguchi family navigates a morning laced with frost and secrets. Shizue, the calculating matriarch, trades barbed remarks with her rebellious daughters—Misako, nursing a hangover and heartache, and Yaho, whose sharp wit masks deeper wounds. Their brittle banter crackles with unresolved tensions over Ichirō, a charismatic cornet player entangled in forbidden desires and whispered betrayals. \nWhen news arrives of Ichirō’s fatal car crash on a treacherous slope, guilt coils through the household like smoke. Each member—Shizue, her husband Hamaguchi, even the sardonic Yaho—hints at complicity, their confessions layering like shadows. Was it the faulty Ford Shizue provided? Hamaguchi’s cruel exile of his nephew? Or Misako’s desperate midnight call luring him onto frozen roads? \nAs an ambulance wails toward their gates, a cruel twist unravels their certainty: the corpse may not be Ichirō’s at all. Amidst clinking coffee cups and donned mourning clothes, the Hamaguchis confront their gilded cage of lies, where love curdles into manipulation and every confession could be another performance. The truth, like the frost-veiled sea beyond their windows, remains deceptively calm—and infinitely dangerous. |
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