The Memory Police

Yoko Ogawa

A compelling and surreal, Orwellian mystery by one of Japan's greatest writers.

** Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020, an enthralling Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance from one of Japan's greatest writers.**

On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . .

Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those who remember live in fear of the Memory Police.

To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river, or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.

When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?

'Beautiful... Haunting' Sunday Times

'This timeless fable of control and loss feels more timely than ever' Guardian