Harmless Like You
Harmless Like You by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, published by W.W. Norton in 2017, is a literary work that spans 308 pages. This novel intricately weaves the stories of Yuki Oyama, a Japanese girl striving to establish herself as an artist in New York, and her son Jay, who grapples with the emotional fallout of his mother’s abandonment when he was just two years old.
Readers will find a narrative that unfolds across various locations, including New York, Connecticut, and Berlin, exploring themes of identity, art, and the complexities of familial relationships. The story begins with Yuki at sixteen, navigating her life as an outsider in New York City, where her aspirations and friendships shape her journey. As her life takes a tumultuous turn due to a destructive relationship, the novel delves into the psychological aspects of her choices and their impact on her son, ultimately addressing the profound question of maternal abandonment.
Official synopsis Publisher
Written in startlingly beautiful prose, Harmless Like You is set across New York, Connecticut, and Berlin, following Yuki Oyama, a Japanese girl fighting to make it as an artist, and Yuki’s son Jay who, as an adult in the present day, is forced to confront his mother’s abandonment of him when he was only two years old.
The novel opens when Yuki is sixteen and her father is posted back to Japan. Though she and her family have been living as outsiders in New York City, Yuki opts to stay, intoxicated by her friendship with the beautiful aspiring model Odile, the energy of the city, and her desire to become an artist. But when she becomes involved with an older man and the relationship turns destructive, Yuki’s life is unmoored. Harmless Like You is a suspenseful novel about the complexities of identity, art, adolescent friendships, and familial bonds that asks–and ultimately answers–how does a mother desert her son?
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