Breasts and Eggs

 

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such an interesting exploration of what it is to be a woman/mother. The afterword explains that the novel was written in two parts, the first part being published first and the second added after for the international printing. It does feel like two separate stories, although the main character remains the same. The first part ruminates about being a woman--her sister is obsessed with breast implants, her niece is grappling with puberty, and an incident at the bathhouse has the author wondering what gender even is. It's has several whimsical/ dreamlike incidents which creates interest and underscores the surreal nature of trying to distinguish what female is. The second half of the book is more concrete and discusses the idea of becoming a mother, especially a single mother and looks at the idea through several different view-points. For a novel about ideas, I found it very interesting and thought provoking and not without some emotion.

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Those summer days felt worlds away, as if they happened in another life.  But they happened to me, and to my body.