Book Summary and Reviews of Confessions by Kanae Minato

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Confessions

by Kanae Minato

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  • Published:
  • Aug 2014, 240 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

After calling off her engagement in the wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old child, Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a diabolical plot for revenge.

Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you'll never see coming, Confessions probes the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in danger. You'll never look at a classroom the same way again.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Minato, a homemaker and former home economics teacher, also spotlights the dysfunction that can fester beneath the tidy surface of Japanese society - as well as the searing fury of a mother's love gone wrong." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. This long-awaited English translation is a spellbinding read, a fascinating peek into modern Japanese society, and a glimpse into the dark corners of the human psyche." - Booklist

"This award-winning debut novel is a creepy and mesmerizing psychological thriller that challenges the conventions of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, and law vs. justice. There are no happy endings here, but Minato has pieced together an intriguing puzzle that will keep readers glued to their seats." - Library Journal

This information about Confessions was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Kanae Minato

Kanae Minato was a housewife before her debut novel Confessions skyrocketed to the top of the Japanese charts and turned her into the year's bestselling novelist. A recipient of the Radio Drama Award, the Detective Novel Prize for New Writers, and the National Booksellers' Award, Minato lives in Japan.

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