Yuko Tsushima ; translated by Geraldine Harcourt
Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima, translated from the Japanese by Geraldine Harcourt, was originally published in twelve installments in a Japanese literary journal. It consists of a series of twelve fragmentary episodes chronicling one year in the life of a young mother recently separated from her husband. Unfolding in the first-person point of view, the narrator records her struggles with finding an apartment on her own, juggling employment while raising her three-year-old daughter, the tense interactions with her husband, and her loneliness.
After moving into her apartment, the narrator describes the tedium of her daily routine: waking up, getting her daughter ready for daycare, dropping her off, heading to work, picking her daughter up, shopping, dinner, and bed. She is mentally drained and physically exhausted through it all. To add to her distress are unannounced appearances from her estranged husband and her daughter who throws tantrums, cries at night, and wets her bed.
The narrator’s plight generates sympathy, but the narrator is not a sympathetic character. She is distant, awkward, immature, irresponsible, isolated, impatient with her daughter, and, at times, abusive toward her. Her veneer isolates her from other characters, as well as from the reader. The narrative is disjointed and fragmented. One incident follows another with little to no connection between them, possibly due to its publication in monthly installments as separate episodes. The detailed description of the mundane activities of her daily life coupled with her interiority become repetitive and redundant, failing to sustain interest or generate sympathy.
The strength of the novel lies in its stunning use of light imagery. The narrator’s lens is sensitive to the play of light all around her, whether it is the light dancing on the red floor of her apartment, the sunlight streaming through the windows, the shimmering light reflected on the silver roof, the sparkle of fireworks, the flashing neon signs, or the chemical explosion of a building. These images somewhat redeem the novel from its otherwise lackluster narrative and flat characters.