Akiko's Quiet Happiness: A Novel
About this audiobook
Two lonely former classmates reconnect in Tokyo and unravel a family secret in this touching new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.
Still grieving the death of her mother, 29-year-old Akiko is single and lives in self-imposed isolation in Tokyo. Then one evening, she unexpectedly runs into Kento, her first love from school. Kento now leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, only venturing out at night.
At the same time, Akiko discovers evidence that her mother had been lying to her about their family, causing her to doubt everything. She has to admit to herself that she doesn’t know who she is.
With Kento’s help, Akiko embarks on a journey into her own history, which takes her life in surprising directions and leads her to questions she had never dared to ask herself before: How do I want to live? And do I have the courage to love?
About the author
Jan-Philipp Sendker is an internationally bestselling author born in Hamburg in 1960. He was the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he published Cracks in the Wall, a nonfiction book about China. His first novel, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, is an international bestseller, and the sequel, A Well-Tempered Heart, appeared in 2013. He lives in Berlin with his family.
