#Blogtour Mongrel by Hanako Footman

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Mongrel by Hanako Footman, which is a 2024 debut novel you don't want to miss.

About the Author

Hanako Footman is a British-Japanese actor and author living in London. Mongrel is her debut novel. Follow @hanakofootman on Instagram

About the book

Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing both her heritage and her growing love for her best friend Fran.

Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Lonely and far from home, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.

Haruka attempts to navigate Tokyo’s nightlife and all of its many vices, working as a hostess in seedy bars. She grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her, until finally one of those secrets comes to light . . .

Shifting between three intertwining narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of isolation, desire, love, and ultimately, hope.

Review

With Mei we experience the coming-of-age, the awakening of her sexuality, the tasting of the hidden rather than forbidden fruit. The confusion, betrayal and the search for answers. With Yuki the reader can see the writing on the wall, despite not knowing the importance of her role at the beginning. Then there is Haruka who becomes the physical representation of rejection, the inability to swallow pride to save her sanity and she is also the road upon which healing can be built.

As the threads between Mei, Yuki and Haruka become more visual to the eye of the beholder, the better the reader understands each woman. Their experiences, regardless of their age at the time, and how their past, similarities and connections have an impact on their lives and relationships.

I also found it fascinating how the author manages to give each subjective view of the characters who intersect the lives of the women at different times. The person I meet and experience is not the person you meet and experience, much like each child has a different version of their parent, which means their interactions and views can differ vastly from each other.

Sometimes you find stories that have the capacity to go beyond the hook of a great read and story, they connect with the reader on a visceral level. I find it's often the case when the beauty of the prose elevates the story to a level above a mere reaction of compassion, empathy, pain, despair or just the recognition of some element of self. Footman has that je ne sais quoi, and the ability to deliver in word what the eye perceives and heart feels.

Buy Mongrel at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Footnote Press, pub date 8 Feb. 2024. Buy via Bookshop org.