The Story of a Single Woman

A piercingly beautiful and candid novel of love, sex and independence in 1920s Japan by a trailblazing Japanese writer.
‘A remarkable Japanese novelist’ Financial Times
Growing up in a remote mountain village, Kazue always nurtured a spirit of independence. Ignoring the values of her traditional community, she rejects an early arranged marriage and embarks on a scandalous affair. Exiled from her home, Kazue departs to follow her impulses wherever they might lead.
Driven by her enduring hope and resilience, Kazue goes first to Korea and then to Tokyo, taking up with a series of men but always casting out again on her own path. Sparklingly beautiful, The Story of a Single Woman is an autobiographical account of desire and freedom by a trailblazing Japanese writer.
Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.
Translated by Rebecca Copeland
Chiyo Uno (1897-1996) was a celebrated Japanese writer who was best known for turning her eventful life into prize-winning, acclaimed novels. She was raised in Iwakuni, a small castle town on the Inland Sea near Hiroshima. She left home young and worked a variety of jobs, from teaching to waiting tables to founding a fashion magazine. On a whim, she submitted a story to a newspaper writing competition in 1921, and she received the top prize. She began writing novels which drew on her personal experience, scandalising her contemporaries with stories of women who forged their own path and had extra-marital affairs. Uno became a beloved author in Japan, with her memoir eventually being adapted into a popular TV drama.