Sayonara Bar - Softcover

'With dry humour and crisp observation, Barker conveys the inner chaos masked by the external regimens of a society where intimacy is contrived, and loyalty is strained. Japan has not, for a long time, been made to seem so accessible, or so remote' - Literary Review. 'A stunningly eclectic debut. Original, often perplexing, always intriguing, Sayonara Bar is a showpiece of breathtaking new talent' - Daily Record. 'New author Susan Barker has set her edgy, sly debut in a hostess lounge' - Elle. 'A fluid style and writes sentences reminiscent of Haruki Murakami...Barker's descriptions are spot on' - JapanVisitor.com.

Mary, a blond graduate from England, has drifted into a job in a hostess lounge in Osaka. She is employed by the enigmatic Mama-san to spend her evenings flirting with rich Japanese salarymen, playing drinking games and taking turns in the karaoke booth. Mary is in love with Yuji, Mama-san’s handsome son. But Yuji’s loyalty is to the petty Yakuza gangster for whom he works. Watanabe, the introverted cook, watches Mary from the kitchen. He exists in his own manga-fuelled fantasy of the fourth dimension, and believes he can see into other people’s souls. When he perceives the danger of Mary’s growing obsession with Yuji, he resolves to protect her whatever the cost. Mr Sato works for the Daiwa Trading Corporation. Obsessive overwork cannot cure the emptiness of his solitary life. Lured against his will to the Sayonara Bar by his boss, he finds himself returning there to escape his dead wife’s ghost.