A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick''A love letter to Japan and its literature'' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan''Ingenious... Touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking'' Guardian''An ideal tonic for anyone craving far-flung adventure'' Mail on Sunday''If you''re itching to read a new novel by David Mitchell...try this'' The Times_______________In Tokyo - one of the world''s largest megacities - a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers - from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo''s denizens, drawing them ever closer.''Masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo; its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat.'' David Peace, author of THE TOKYO TRILOGYOne of the Independent''s best debutsLonglisted for the DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD, 2021