Pages Review | Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she’s pregnant.

When thirty-four-year-old Ms. Shibata gets a new job in Tokyo to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that, as the only woman at her new workplace–a company that manufactures cardboard tubes–she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can’t clear away her colleagues’ dirty cups–because she’s pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms. Shibata is not pregnant.

Pregnant Ms. Shibata doesn’t have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms. Shibata isn’t forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms. Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But pregnant Ms. Shibata also has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Helped along by towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app on which she can log every stage of her “pregnancy,” she feels prepared to play the game for the long haul. Before long, though, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve.

A surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique, Diary of a Void is bound to become a landmark in feminist world literature.

My Thoughts:

Diary of a Void may be a story of a faked pregnancy, but its exploration of the challenges women in Japan (and all over the world) always face in the workplace and in society as a whole are all very real. ⁣This was fun to read, in a way that hitting back someone who hurt you can be fun and satisfying. This book shows how sometimes you can find freedom in lies if the lie is about you creating a safe space for yourself. ⁣
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The depiction of loneliness is on point, and it leads to the other thing that made me love this book: because it tells of one of the valid reasons (for me) why anyone should start a family. It should be about having someone to call your own, a loyal companion in a tough world like ours, someone who can perceive your true self without judgment or unrealistic expectations. A family should feel like home. ⁣
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I think I picked the perfect bookmark for this book’s vibe. Ladies, I hope you’re getting your well-deserved rest. I hope you are saying NO or at least learning to say it, as you should.

Overall Rating: ♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♡

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emi Yagi is an editor at a Japanese women’s magazine. She was born in 1988 and lives in Tokyo. Diary of a Void is her first novel; it won the Dazai Osamu Prize, awarded annually to the best debut work of fiction.