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Butter
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
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Summary
'Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable' PANDORA SYKES
'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY
'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki's new novel Butter’ NIGEL SLATER
‘A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat’ THE TIMES
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP
'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER
‘Nothing short of ingenious’ INEWS
‘Ambitious and unsettling’ GUARDIAN
What listeners say about Butter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hannah Campbell-Cox
- 24-09-24
Boring, was a shame
I wanted this to be good, but I lost all interest and it felt like it's didn't go anywhere. The concept had so much promise
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- Amazon Customer
- 21-04-24
10/10 Book! Perfect in every way!
I think it would take a lot to top this book. Totally captivating. The descriptions of the dishes were mouthwatering (had to go make the butter rice straight away) and the mystery of Kajii was intriguing. I want to listen to it again and again. Hanako Footman is the perfect narrator - brilliant as always.
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-09-24
excellent
amazing book, a must read. something different. look forward to your next book. thank you
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- Veronica
- 13-03-24
Is a story that takes you from the start
Works through the standards women are measured by and how it shapes their lives. But also how working through them and deciding what would be yours can help shape them
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- B Pathmapit
- 04-09-24
Thought provoking
Interesting perspective on current pressures on women with regard to physical expectations and defining femininity today. There was exploration of the competitiveness women feel towards one another based on the above expectations and whether these expectations are defined by men/society or women themselves.
It uses the premise of a murder trial where two women who, on the surface are polar opposites, explore and interpret human desire, food, the place of food and self, identity, friendship, human interaction and love.
In the end, these two women realise their similarities, but display their respctive resilience in very different ways .
It is a slow burn read with lots of red herrings which make the reader formulate their own ever changing answer of “ did she do it?”
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- Rosie Cousins
- 25-03-24
Unsure?
I was drawn in as I tend to go for crime fiction or true crime and this was advertised to me as such. it had elements of that but was lacking for me and focused more on the journalists emotional journey. not a bad story just not what I was expecting.
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- Christine Gonsalvez
- 19-08-24
Delightful
Really interesting themes and well developed characters. Loved my excursion to Japan. I do recommend this novel.
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- Kathryn E. Goldin
- 08-07-24
Food and Foe
Death by food takes an odd turn in this intriguing if slightly slow and staccato story that pits an ambitious journalist against a notorious woman accused ans convicted of killing the men she has fallen in love with. Investigative journalist soon turns to obsession, as the only way to garner the killers trust is through building a relationship around food, especially butter. Set in Japan, this novel is full of rich characters and observations, slow realisations and methodical, but never clinical experiences of eating and cooking food. Never had butter felt so deadly, nourishing or sensual. The exhaustive narration of procuring, tasting and cooking is the vital spine of the story which uses this exploration as a way to explore trauma, social boundaries, misogyny and tradition. The novel explores women's relationship to duty, body and domesticity in a fascinating series of dialogues and reflections. More social drama than murder mystery, the taste of Butter leaves an indelible taste in your mouth, one that changes as the butter melts and dissolves, but which will never leave you.
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- Deirdre
- 05-03-24
Loved it.
Cultural norms are challenged in this multi layered book. It needs attention when listening as it moves through multiple characters and the attention to food, society and the guesswork of a proposed serial killer. Different and wonderful at the same time. I'd say we will see many 5 star to 2 star reviews as this is a different type of story in the genre.
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- martina
- 11-04-24
so unnecessarily long
boring at times, too long for what the story was. the story looses its own path at times, presenting characters and facts that add length of pages but not depth to the story.
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