Pathway to Japanese Literature
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RendezvousAuthor: Hayashi Fumiko
| Original Title | あひびき |
|---|---|
| Author | 林 芙美子 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Female Author |
| Summary | In a secluded hot-spring inn shrouded by relentless rain, two lovers find fleeting solace amid the ruins of post-war Japan. Keisuke, a surgeon with a wife, and the narrator, a pregnant woman married to a stoic banker, cling to stolen moments of tenderness as they confront an uncertain future. Their illicit bond, forged in quiet defiance of societal scorn, is both fragile and unyielding—a refuge from the weight of their separate lives. The dim, decaying room becomes a sanctuary where whispered jokes and shared silence mingle with the drumming downpour, masking their dread of looming consequences. As the narrator’s pregnancy advances, plans for a clandestine birth at a grim maternity clinic hint at sacrifices yet to come. Yet within their desperation lies an almost sacred resolve: to protect the fragile life growing between them, even as shadows of judgment and inevitability draw near. Through rain-streaked windows, Mount Fuji remains veiled—a silent witness to their fragile hope, as transient and elusive as the clarity they seek. |
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