Half novel and half autobiography, The Story of a Single Woman by Chiyo Uno is a reflection of the life of a woman that is expected to get married and have children, and she simply... doesn't want that. We are in rural Japan, in the 1920s, and that's not only not acceptable, but a true scandal.
Beautifully translated, easy and quick to read, this book is truly fascinating. Especially the first half, I was glued to its pages. It loses a little bit of "spice" in the second half, but still it remains a very interesting story, empowering but also a sad.
Recommended if you enjoy Japanese literature and loved Convenience Store Woman (different setting but similar vibes).

* I'd like to thank Chiyo Uno, Pushkin Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#TheStoryofaSingleWoman #NetGalley

A rare and raw glimpse into a woman's life as she moves from place to place, always in search of herself in a changing context. Truly beautiful and a masterpiece to go beyond it's time.

I finished this book but struggled to really engage with it, despite persevering.

It tells the story of a Japanese girl, Kazue, following the death of her father. Kazue has been adamant from a young age that she won’t be getting married and doesn’t value the sanctity of marriage.

She moves from village to village in search of what I thought was some kind of acceptance. Insecure, she wears her make-up like a mask. Afraid to let it slip for fear that people won’t like what’s underneath.

She flits from man to man and is often mistreated whilst she mistreats others. Towards the end of the story she’s living a promiscuous chaotic life with multiple sexual partners who appear to be using her more than anyone else. She appears to become more numb with age as to the impact that her actions have on others (for instance, she talks about sleeping with a young female villager’s husband but feels nothing when she bumps into this female the immediate next day). She also doesn’t appear to recognise (or care) when she herself is being mistreated.

I found it so difficult to engage with the character in this one but still found her outlook desperately sad.

The character’s chaotic life was almost reflected in the reading style itself as the story bounced chaotically between the various men in Kazue’s life from village to village.

There are others out there who appear to have got more out of the story than I did so definitely read other reviews before drawing conclusions.

"Perhaps so much of it rushed past so quickly that most failed to register any lasting impression. Or perhaps she was always so captivated by what would happen next, by what lay ahead, that she failed to pay attention to what was at hand."

Not exactly the fan of the writing style but it's fascinating to read about a woman, in her old age, recounts the events of her life and reflects what her actions mean. She seemed to be the person who couldn't handle staying at one place, had to be moving from one location to the next.

The Story of a Single Woman by Uno Chiyo, translated by Rebecca Copeland, is a striking novel—neither strictly autobiographical nor entirely fictional—first published in 1972. Through the lens of an observant narrator, we follow the life of Kazue, a woman in her seventies, as she reflects on a lifetime of unconventional choices. Born into an affluent family of sake brewers, Kazue experiences poverty and hardship due to her reckless father. His strict control defines her early years, softened only by the presence of a kind stepmother. Yet, upon his death, she finds herself liberated, eager to explore the very freedoms he had denied her.

Kazue moves through life on her own terms—working various jobs, indulging in makeup she both loves and distrusts, and engaging in passionate but fleeting relationships. She rejects marriage as futile, choosing instead a life of movement and impermanence. Her increasing eccentricities border on madness, raising the question: is she merely a free spirit, or is she doomed to repeat her father’s self-destructive path?

In a time when women were expected to be loyal and chaste, Kazue’s unapologetic defiance of societal norms is both overwhelming and fascinating. Her impulsive nature and disregard for consequences mirror characters like Ammani from T. Janakiraman’s Wooden Cow (Mara Pasu)—sensitive and precocious souls shaped by childhood trauma. Uno Chiyo herself, once ostracized by her village, later became one of Japan’s celebrated literary figures, channeling her experiences into prize-winning novels.

While The Story of a Single Woman presents a protagonist who may be difficult to like, it compels the reader to understand her. Kazue lives without overanalyzing, yet she lingers in the mind long after the final page, urging us to reflect on the choices that define a life.

Thank you @pushkin_press & @netgalley for the ARC.

Such a nice classic from Japan. It's about feminism and love and not being able to d what you want because you are a girl or woman. Beautiful and the translation is top notch.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A reissue of Rebecca Copeland's 1992 translation which shows its brilliance in that it's not aged in the slightest.

Meet Kazue, impulsive, dreamy, romantic and very insecure about her skin tone. After applying face powder to lighten it, she embarks on a whole string of relationships from fellow teachers to writers she's beaten in a prize to her husband's younger brother and a student who's supposed to be studying for exams (he fails them!). Through it all, Kazue doesn't ever seek to give her heart or make any promises in return. When the whim takes her, she leaves for pastures new, which sometimes means returning home, sometimes means heading off elsewhere. There's no malice in her, only whimsey as she floats around between people.

So what are we supposed to think about Kazue? Is she a heroine or a villain or just human? The author doesn't give an answer, she just presents Kazue as someone who is and lets the reader make up their own mind about her.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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A teenage girl decides never to get married. It's not a big thing, we would say now. But it's rural Japan in the 1920s.
I had to remind myself several times of the time setting of the book, because it deals with topics that are so relevant today. Transgenerational trauma, alcoholism, domestic abuse and even ghosting.
I like this Classics series from Pushkin Press, because they offer stories I would otherwise not pick up. This one was definitely worth reading.

The cover of The Story of a Single Woman is absolutely stunning, and with so many incredible Japanese authors gaining international recognition lately, Sayaka Murata, Kazuo Ishiguro, Banana Yoshimoto, and Haruki Murakami, this book immediately caught my attention. Chiyo Uno’s novel is a profound exploration of personal freedom, identity, and societal expectations, told through the life of Kazue, a woman who unapologetically pursues her own desires despite the constraints placed upon her by early 20th-century Japanese society.

The narrative style of the book is truly unique, offering an introspective and almost dreamlike recounting of Kazue’s life. As she reflects on her past, the prose becomes both detached and deeply empathetic, giving readers a sense of Kazue’s inner turmoil and resilience. Throughout her journey, Kazue wrestles with societal expectations—especially the pressures to marry and live a traditional life. However, she continually defies these norms, exploring relationships, careers, and independence on her own terms. Her impulsiveness and bold choices create a character who is both relatable and admirable, making it impossible not to root for her even when she makes mistakes.

The beauty of this novella lies in its quiet exploration of Kazue’s emotional evolution. There’s a haunting quality to the way her story is told, and though it doesn’t offer all the answers, it’s this ambiguity that makes the book so compelling. It’s a deeply reflective, yet strikingly free-spirited narrative that encourages readers to reflect on their own lives. In just over 160 pages, The Story of a Single Woman packs an emotional punch and offers a touching look at a woman’s search for meaning and self-liberation in a world that often seeks to hold her back.

Kazue is a single woman living in rural Japan who has vowed to never marry. While she does not wish to be tied to a man, that doesn’t stop her from having partners and trysts with men she finds appealing (or sometimes no attraction at all?).

As a young girl, she did not have the model of a healthy relationship between a man and a woman as her father was consumed with his own demons and her stepmother was resigned to being a woman of the house regardless of the injustices thrust upon her. Could this have shaped Kazue’s mentality towards relationships? Most likely. But she discovers her own sense of self as she aged and realized that she was destined to be a “free spirit”.

I liked the premise of this book but the writing was disjointed (not surprising as it is a book in translation), the SA accounts were treated flippantly, and I had a difficult time feeling anything but annoyance with Kazue and her disregard for other’s feelings.

unfortunately a bit of a miss for me- I can recognize the interest of this in the time it was written/published originally but the writing felt quite detached, too straightforward and factual almost. However still a good read for me- it intrigued me reading about a woman not following societal standards set for her and deciding on her life.

I really loved Uno's writing style. The prose flowed so well and I found the story to be profound as we watched the characters develop and navigate the world and society around them

The Story of a Single Woman is an I-Novel, written in a specifically Japanese genre of autobiographical fiction. Chiyo Uno had an unconventional life for a woman of her generation (she was born at the end of the 19th century and died in the 1990s, living to be almost a 100 years old) - she married multiple times and had many affairs, she was a professional writer for most of her life, but literary acknowledgement came in her 70s. The Story is one of many narratives inspired by her own life. Kazue, the protagonist, is writing the story of the first 30 or so years of her life, looking back at it from her 70s. Through her eyes, we see Japan of the early 20th century, and the changing ideas of womanhood in it.

I don't particularly like coming of age stories and children protagonists, so the first 30% or so of this novel were a real slog. Children in fiction rarely notice the world around them, and although there are innumerable differences between children growing up in different contexts, most coming of age stories follow a similar beat, as there are only so many ways a child can discover things about themselves, the world around them and their own body. In addition to this, the writing style throughout the book is very dry, very matter of fact and rather non-descriptive, so as a reader I sort of had to read against the grain to work out things about Kazue's surroundings and get any sense of time or place. It does improve as the narrative goes on, as we get more of the author's reflections on Kazue and her life story, but the first third of the novel was an absolute chore.

Once Kazue starts having relationships with men (the focus of the book), the purpose of it becomes a bit clearer, and the narrative opens up. Unusually for her generation, Kazue never wants to marry, and keeps having both long-term relationships and one-night stands. She also gets sexually assaulted multiple times throughout the book. Her reflections about womanhood and normality made me think of another book I was reading at roughly the same time. Sayaka Murata's The Vanishing World. In both cases, we see women behaving abnormally by the standards of their society, and navigating the changing standards and definitions of normality.

In many ways, I found The Story to be a more compelling and interesting, if less engaging, narrative, as it stays much more in tune with real-world developments. What was scandalous for Kazue in the 1910s and 20s was no longer as much of a societal challenge by the 1970s. when the novel was written, and today it basically is a description of most twentysomethings navigating dating in London. Many of the scenarios of Kazue's life are instantly recognisable, from house parties to the ubiquity of drinking in dating culture. Those moments of connection made me both feel for the character and think about ideas of universal vs culturally particular experiences.

The matter of fact dry writing gives limited glimpses into some of Kazue's motivations. One clear example of this is that she rarely discusses sex itself (despite having quite a lot of it). As an I-Novel, the narrative is also singularly focused on Kazue, at the expense of any other people in her life. As a result, we never learn what drew her to the particular men she ended up in relationships with (at some point, she mentions that she does not even enjoy sex that much). If she does not believe in marriage as a transaction (despite her desire to always work and earn money, she does not seem to think of men as a route to monetary security), what drew her to these people?

My other issue with the book was that it gives very few glimpses into Japan itself, and the context of the time Kazue lived in. We learn quite a lot about the small rural community she grew up in, but beyond that, the novel reads like it could have been set anywhere and at any time. There is very little in it to root it in the particular time it is set in. Kazue is a writer, she has all these parties with various intellectuals, some of whom are socialists, but we never learn anything about the sorts of things she wrote about or things they discussed at these parties. The author is also conspicuously silent on the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea, even though Kazue travels to Korea to be a teacher. I am used to 20th century Japanese authors refusing to reckon with Japanese imperialism, but it is still grating to read.

I try to finish it even it is 50% more but… im sorry, i need to stop and dnf. The translation was so difficult to understand like it worst for me. Maybe i will try to read it another time.

A deceptively simple story of a woman and her looking back on her life and some relationships she had with men, in a Japanese society that was not very open to that kind of behavior, "The Story of a Single Woman" is a worthy read if you want to know more about Japan, social and familiar relationships in its culture (from more or less a hundred years ago to fifty years ago) and, particularly, about how a world influences a woman's life and her capacity to choose her own path. Because even if Kazue does seem to be kind of a free spirit, or unpredictable, some of her behavior is shaped by the hyper-patriarchal world she lives in (we can't escape from our environment). At the same time, Uno does a good job in creating a character that feels fleshed out, with certainties, doubts and dreams, insecurities, that are read between lines more than written on the page.

It is also a pretty short read. If you have time, give it a try.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

The Story of a Single Woman by Chiyo Uno intrigued me with its premise, but unfortunately, I didn’t find myself fully connecting with the book. While it’s a short read, I didn’t feel compelled to race through it. The exploration of societal expectations and women’s roles in early 20th-century Japan is certainly interesting, and did make me think. It’s a worthwhile read for those interested in historical narratives about women’s experiences, but it didn’t quite resonate with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this title!

I really enjoyed this story, a reflection on Chiyo's life and experiences.

An easy to follow and quick read which examines life as a woman in a society that expects marriage, children and female dependency. Despite Chiyo's impoverished upbringing we see how human connection and relationships help us navigate life and really enrich our experiences.

I was fascinated with how free spirited Chiyo lived, unapologetically herself and expecting nothing of others in return. I liked how the questions were also poised as certain points of the book to both show reflection from Chiyo, and helping the reader connect more deeply with the writing.

Recommend for readers that enjoy a slower pace, with lots of reflection.

1.5 stars.

I hate it when a book doesn’t make me feel anything at all. This was just a brief glimpse into Kazue’s life and relationships, nothing more than a series of events strung together. No depth, no emotion, no real insight into what she was thinking or feeling. It just happened, all matter-of-factly, like reading a list instead of a story. That’s why I didn’t connect with Kazue at all.

Gosh. How many consecutive meh reads have I been through? 😭😭😭😭

Note : Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC. All opinions are my own

An elderly Kazue reflects on her life in 1920s Japan, and it was no ordinary life. From a young age, Kazue seemed immune to the expectations and judgment of those around her. She comes across as aloof and unbothered-- so much so that it's a bit hard to believe. At the very least, it's hard to believe that she was so shielded from the consequences of living so brazenly outside the norms. Kazue satisfies her curiosity by following her instincts, and this often led her from one man to another. I never got the sense that she was particularly thrilled with her life, but I didn't get the sense that she was disappointed or unhappy either. She simply flowed through it all. Although there are a few parts where the reader gets a glimpse into the elderly Kazue's thoughts on her past, I would have liked to have heard more from her.

I ended up enjoying this book a lot more than I expected to! This is the story of a woman who does exactly what she wants. Chiyo Uno's The Story of a Single Woman was originally published in Japanese in 1972, and is being published in English for the first time. The novel isn't too long, making for a short but entertaining read.
Kazue is a Japanese woman in her 70s reflecting on her long life. Through her memories, we explore her relationship with her family, lovers, and herself. These vignettes give us a look not only into her own life, but the culture of Japan at large. As she recounts her life, she investigates her thoughts on work, romance and marriage. Kazue is a fiercely independent woman who takes action on a whim and gives no thought to how others will view her. The character certainly breaks stereotypes of Japanese women as quiet and submissive, especially when first published. There were a few instances where the prose was odd or unusual, but this may have just been an issue with my interpretation of the translation.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Japanese culture, or that can relate to simply living life on your own terms. Sure to be a favorite for those that love the "women doing whatever they want" genre.