Many high-functioning women suffer from imposter syndrome. Women, specifically, suffer from this because patriarchy has made us believe that no matter how successful and bright we are, at work or at home, we will never be good enough. This leaves the individual feeling lonelier than ever and results in a downward spiral of self-doubt and hesitation that’s then viewed as peculiar.
This uneasy feeling is at the crux of Hooked, bestselling Japanese author Asako Yuzuki’s second novel to be translated into English, and it is shared almost equally by its two female protagonists, Eriko and Shoko.
Big city girl Eriko is a smart, independent executive, who works for a renowned food manufacturing firm in Tokyo. An expert in the business of Japan’s food imports, she is single, underconfident and almost 30. The other lead, Shoko, a small-town girl who now lives in the city with her husband, is the only person who can perhaps see Eriko for who she is — a strong independent woman who doesn’t need a man to validate her existence. A housewife, whose blog is read by thousands, Shoko is on the verge of signing a book deal with a prominent publisher. Eriko is one of her devoted readers. In fact, she is almost obsessed with Shoko.
The two become friends during a chance encounter at a café where Eriko overhears Shoko’s blog-to-book conversation with a publisher. While Eriko, who is oblivious of her own achievements, is enchanted with the very idea of Shoko’s fame through her blog, the latter is impressed by Eriko’s corporate demeanour and doubts the value of her own stay-at-home, wifely persona. Both women look at each other with awe and admiration, and in doing so, forget their own individual successes.
{{/usCountry}}The two become friends during a chance encounter at a café where Eriko overhears Shoko’s blog-to-book conversation with a publisher. While Eriko, who is oblivious of her own achievements, is enchanted with the very idea of Shoko’s fame through her blog, the latter is impressed by Eriko’s corporate demeanour and doubts the value of her own stay-at-home, wifely persona. Both women look at each other with awe and admiration, and in doing so, forget their own individual successes.
{{/usCountry}}It would seem that being a woman is almost synonymous with feeling inherently inferior. Throw in a man, and it’s the perfect recipe for isolation and unbecoming behaviour. Yuzuki’s first novel to be translated into English, Butter also had women at its centre. According to The Guardian, it sold more than 300,000 copies in the UK alone and was voted Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024. Women characters are at the centre of this second novel too, and Yuzuki’s ability to articulate the perceptive texture of their everyday emotions is commendable.
There are glimpses of its predecessor in Hooked. In Butter, Rika’s fixation with the gourmet serial killer Manako Kajii was palpable; their psychological influence over each other unfolds almost cinematically. In this new novel, Eriko’s fondness for Shoko borders on obsession. When she doesn’t hear back from Shoko and is unable to track her whereabouts via her blog (Shoko leaves her phone at home and doesn’t update her blog for a few days when she goes to visit her father), Eriko puts two and two together and figures out her home address. She lands up outside her apartment like a stalker.
Here’s when things start getting muddled. A woman who behaves as Eriko does is invariably labelled as unhinged. No other aspect of this disposition is emphasised upon, not even the fact that adult female friendships are complex. Add to that, differences in class, educational backgrounds, upbringing and profound loneliness and you have a looming emotional disaster.
Shoko notices that Eriko lives with her parents, is taken care of, and is privileged. She ponders about her own family – her mother left when she was young, her brother is irresponsible, and her father does his own thing. It is, in her eyes, an inferior family dynamic. In Eriko’s eyes, however, Shoko is a star.
Female friendships can both be nourishing and damaging, and in Hooked the reader might find the answer to why this is so. From striking up a conversation in restrooms to bonding over breakups, it’s a deeply desired connection that for some, if they’re lucky, lasts a lifetime. Others are left yearning in loneliness.
Arunima Mazumdar is an independent writer. She is @sermoninstone on X and Instagram.