Each of Us a Petal is here!

 

A bittersweet day for me – my book has arrived from Victorina Press and it looks fabulous! This new collection of my Japan-themed short fiction has French flaps and contains a dozen of my own illustrations – plus it boasts another stunning cover from Triona Walsh. 

However, Victorina Press are sadly in the process of closing down, and they are not in a position to physically sell, market or distribute my book – so this one's on me! There's a Paypal link to buy a signed copy at the top of my homepage, so if you have any love in your heart then you know where to send it! (It will also be stocked by Kemp's Books in Malton.)

To tempt you, here's the blurb and the first reviews:

Each of Us a Petal:

Stories of and from Japan

In the cherry blossom’s shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger – Kobayashi Issa

This collection of short fiction from award-winning author Amanda Huggins takes us on a journey through Japan, from the hustle of city bars to the silence of snow country. The people, culture and complex social mores of this beguiling country have inspired Huggins’ writing ever since she first visited Japan almost twenty years ago.

Whether they are Japanese nationals or foreign tourists, temporary residents or those recalling their time in Japan from a distance, the men and women in these stories are often adrift and searching for a connection. Many are estranged from their normal lives, navigating the unfamiliar while trying to make sense of the human condition, or find themselves restrained by the formalities of traditional culture as they struggle to forge new relationships outside those boundaries. Others are forced to question their perceptions when they find themselves drawn into an unsettling world of shapeshifting deities and the ghosts of the past. 

 

"Most of the stories in Amanda Huggins’s Each of Us A Petal take place in distinctly Japanese settings, such as the traditional country house in ‘At the Minka’; Haradani-en, the garden north of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in 'Sparrow Footprints’; and, in ‘Straight in the Eye’, the Japanese Alps, where bears are known to roam and sometimes menace. Like the Japanese masters, Huggins exerts considerable restraint in telling these stories of shapeshifters, troubled marriages, erotic encounters, and other interactions. They often end with more of a suggestion than a neat and tidy conclusion, while still making an impact, and lingering in the mind. Some borrow from traditional Japanese folklore, or ghost stories, however the mix of Japanese and international characters gives the collection a contemporary tone. Even if one cannot consume this book on an engawa, with a cup of green tea, the stories will transport the reader to Japan.
 
In these brief, understated tales, which are as delicate and beautiful as the gossamer wing of a dragonfly, Huggins pays loving homage to Japan. Ethereal, evocative, and exquisite."

Suzanne Kamata, author of The Beautiful One Has Come and Cinnamon Beach

 

"From the love embodied in a jar of sweet bean jam to the precision of raked gravel the stories chime with our expectations of Japan while delicately breathing life into the scenes and characters. These stories dive far deeper than the surface clichés and show us the respect of the author through the aspects she chooses to illustrate her themes. You’ll emerge with all your senses tingling from the pleasures of relishing minor details, from a simple cup of tea to a fleeting interaction with someone, or somewhere, with the potential to be the love of your life." 

[ READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE ]

Judy Darley, author of The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain and Sky Light Rain

 
"I heartily recommend this fascinating, beautiful and poignant book of short stories by Amanda Huggins, based on her experiences of Japan as a gaijin (foreigner), a relationship explored in the introduction. 

After reading the first story, I thought, that’s perfect. Perfect. Perhaps I should stop reading now, having had the perfect experience - after all, they can’t all be as good as that! 

I was deliciously wrong. I particularly loved the combination of reality and folklore, both of which can be tender or gritty, in some of the stories.

I’ve read some Japanese literature but not enough, I admit, but this volume has persuaded me to read more. The viewpoint and creations of a gaijin who adores Japan and has immersed herself in its culture is a wonderful way to take delicate steps towards appreciating, learning and exploring Japanese life."

Cathy Bryant, author of Contains Strong Language and Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Look at All the Women, Erratics, (all poetry) and How to Win Writing Competitions (nonfiction). 

 

Each of Us a Petal by Amanda Huggins (Victorina Press) is a collection
of short fiction, all inspired by the people, culture and landscape of
Japan. Having reached the end I feel bereft, and ready to start reading
from the first story all over again. I’m struggling to find the words to
express how much I am in love with Huggins’ writing and these stories.
She writes prose with the heart of a storyteller and the soul of a poet.

Picking out a single favourite is like having to choose between
chocolate and coffee, and I can’t do that, but particular stories have
seeped into my dreams and still linger. ‘My Yellow’ made me sob,
‘Whatever this is’ made me sigh and ache for a happy ending, while
‘Stolen’ gave me good shivers as I’m a sucker for a hint of magic
realism. Others such as the immersive ‘An Unfamiliar Landscape’ still
live on in my imagination, having the characters and complexity to
evolve into much longer narratives.

Each story here is as delicate and beautiful as cherry blossom, each one
is truly a petal to be cherished. Huggins’ fascination for Japan, its
heritage and customs, resonates throughout every page. This haunting
collection shimmers with her love.

This is a rare collection that has piqued my interest to read more about
this complex country. I’ve never visited Japan, but now it’s on my
bucket list.

Tracy Fells, author of Hairy on the Inside and The Naming of Moths

A member of Writers in Kyoto, the author has won prizes and honorable mentions in the WiK Writing Competition, and her work has been included in WiK anthologies. 

The present book is a collection of 19 short stories, romantic, spiritual and full of small details of life in Japan. There is a foreword, “Touching Japan”, in which the author tells a little about her connection with Japan and also says by way of introduction to the stories, “lonely characters are estranged from their usual lives, navigating the unfamiliar while trying to make sense of the human condition of their landscapes.” As a person who has written a short story collection myself, I know that a theme does emerge for the entire collection, whether deliberately chosen at the beginning, or organically when the collection is complete. There is also a glossary of Japanese words at the end, and evocative photos of scenes in Japan are included throughout.

Many of the stories are of love – with spirits, with people lost to death or by cruel separations, or simply by walking away. Some of the love is what we might call illicit, but it is always about human beings coming together, driven by their needs and individual agendas.

Most of the stories are set in urban Japan, though some are from other, far-flung places like Berlin, a small town in a stormy Northern UK coastal region, or small villages in Japan like Onokatsu in Shikoku.

It seems to be a device used often by the author, that many stories have endings which require effort or filling in by the reader – in fact, some of them seem unfinished. The subtle way in which she involves the reader is interesting and pulls you along in the book, wondering how the next story will end.

There are surprising images. One I particularly noticed was in the story of a wife and husband who had lost their baby. “At random moments [grief] would rear up unexpectedly with a clatter of hooves. When it did, it was deafening.” This story, “An Unfamiliar Landscape”, is based on noise – the noises inside the head of the narrator and the clamor of urban life in Tokyo, where she and her husband have ended up after a job transfer, and where she searches for silence in various places. It is interesting how an author can choose a sense that pervades a story, other than the sense of sight, which takes precedence in many stories one reads.

Some of the stories have an intimate connection to WiK. “Sparrow Footprints” was written especially for the annual Writers in Kyoto writing competition (2020), where it won second prize and was included in the 5th Anthology. “The Knife Salesman from Kochi” appeared in a shortened form (flash fiction) for the WiK writing competition (2023), and won the Mayoral Prize in that competition. It will appear in the next WiK anthology.

The stories are all rich in detail and move backward and forward in time, following the memories of the narrators. It is possible to follow the lives of many human beings – foreign and Japanese, traditional inn employees and modern single mothers, salarymen in the bath and a drunken woman in a restaurant.

I could not end this review better than with the author’s own words in the final paragraph of the Foreword, “… it is the people, landscape, and culture of Japan which continue to influence and inspire the aesthetic and sensibility of my writing… That said, I claim to understand nothing more than what it feels like to be human, whoever and wherever we are, and I hope that you will forgive me for sometimes writing about a Japan which exists only in my imagination.”

Rebecca Otowa – author of The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and At Home in Japan

What impresses me most about this collection is Huggins’ ability to enter a very different culture and focus on the similarities that bring us all together. She taps into themes of yearning, loneliness and being on the outside to show these as universal experiences, as well as celebrating love and personal connections. It made me reflect on a family visit to Tokyo in 2010 while on a stopover to Australia. My tall and blonde teenage son was head and shoulders above the crowds at the Shibuya Crossing, the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing yet we still melded into the city’s backdrop of quiet gardens.

The collection also reminded me of the 2003 film Lost in Translation where Scarlett Johannson and Bill Murray play characters drawn together amidst the strange and sometimes unsettling experience of high-rise living in Tokyo.

Huggins has a keen eye and focuses on small things in her stories such as a knife or a key or a sparrow’s footprints which all bring a wider meaning to the reader. It is a delightful collection which I highly recommend. Although the book was released by Victorina Press, the publisher has since closed and your only option to purchase a copy is through the author’s blog. Do pop over and grab a copy before they’re all gone!

When friends who lived in Japan visit next week, I’m looking forward to recommending Each of Us a Petal to them. 

Gail Aldwin, author of The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell