Picking up Territory of Light was an outgrowth of my interest in Japanese literature, and interest in the author Dazai Osamu-san in particular. Dazai-san is Tsushima-san’s father, though she didn’t get to spend much time with him. After reading this novel, I learned his daughter more than stands on her own.

Territory of Light’s twelve segments do have a plot, but overall the plot takes a backseat to the unnamed narrator’s emotional journey. Exasperated by her husband’s infidelity, drinking, and lack of financial literacy, the narrator decides to embark on a new life with their three-year-old daughter. She moves into an apartment bursting with light—there are windows in every room, a rooftop balcony, and no taller buildings around to block the sun. Poignantly alone (yet never truly alone with a toddler in tow), she does her best to carry on, survive, and thrive as a single parent and a single adult who has just undergone a harrowing experience.

Tsushima-san’s prose is beautiful and delicate. The tender story has lots of laughter, which relieves the tension of such a stressful situation. While I haven’t been a single mother or new divorcée, the story felt like a realistic depiction of the stressors from living alone, acting as breadwinner, and raising a very young child. Sprinkle in some classic 1978 sexism and I’m surprised she’s not Mc-losing it. The husband was an interesting character so far as how similar he is to Dazai-san’s typical pathetic wet cat of a protagonist. I’m sure someone smarter than me has written an essay on this topic. Territory of Light is gorgeously written, and I keenly felt my lack of tools to unpack it fully. Tsushima-san’s symbolism is like sensing the shifting shadows in deep water. Other reviewers pointed out interesting elements, and I’ve linked them below. The closest ripple I touched is first the narrator wants to be in the light in the same way a monk wants to live on a mountain. From a clear-sighted vista, she can take a clean breath of air and take stock of herself and her life. Towards the end of the novel, the spotlight becomes too hot—true horror is absolute reality, after all—and she retreats into the soft, shadowy comfort of a darker apartment, which is tailored more to her and her daughter’s needs.

Territory of Light won’t blow your mind in a loud way—it’s too quiet for that. Instead, readers will feel the glowing presence of true art. I definitely want to read more of Tsushima-san’s work.

GoodReads Review I like: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2458966590

StoryGraph Review I like: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/7acda1be-c73a-42d3-b403-a9c232a97065