Of Dogs And Walls by Yuko Tsushima

An intimate, spare collection of linked stories centered on women navigating solitude and social marginality in contemporary Japan. Through domestic scenes, relationships with children, lovers, neighbors and animals—especially dogs—and the recurring motif of walls and boundaries, the narratives examine the struggle for autonomy, the limits of communication, and small acts of tenderness that sustain ordinary lives. Plain yet poetic prose captures resilience, loneliness, and the quiet negotiations that shape identity and belonging.