A tale of two women who want to be friends, but…

Unlike Butter, Hooked is not a crime novel or a thriller. It is essentially a tale of relationships that begin well and then go toxic — sometimes slowly, sometimes dramatically. The two main characters are Eriko, a successful executive at a seafood company, and Shoko, a housewife. Both are in their early thirties, but are entirely different. Eriko is a perfectionist and highly ambitious; Shoko is laid-back, content, and a little lazy.

Shoko writes an anonymous blog, The Diary of Hallie B, the World’s Worst Wife, in which she chronicles her everyday life. It is casually written and self-deprecating, but Eriko loves it and wants to meet its author, envying her seemingly carefree approach. She tracks Shoko down to a café through clues in her blog entries. When they meet, it seems like a meeting of soul sisters — Eriko loves Shoko’s relaxed attitude, and Shoko is in awe of her immaculate appearance and professional dedication.

This closeness, however, dissolves after a few meetings. Shoko finds Eriko’s near-obsession with her and her blog to border on stalking. She tries to draw away, but Eriko refuses to take the hint and keeps trying to be her “best friend,” advising her on how to live her life and write her blog. Eriko tries to explain to Shoko that she only wants her company and deserves a little attention.

Shoko gently points out that her behaviour is a bit like that of a stalker, only for Eriko to react with outraged shock at what she sees as a total misreading of her friendly concern. “What the hell was this woman on?” Shoko wonders as their once-close relationship spirals into disaster, even as Eriko thinks: She was not Hallie’s enemy. She was a devoted fan, with Hallie’s best interests at heart. It was her words that Hallie should be listening to, not this.

It is not just Shoko and Eriko who are affected by their relationship, but the people around them too. Eriko’s colleagues and parents notice the changes in her, and Shoko’s husband grows concerned about her renewed interest in her blog, which she had initially treated as a hobby.

Two women, two minds, both seeking happiness

Asako Yuzuki’s latest has the audience Hooked. (AI generated image)

The novel switches between Shoko’s and Eriko’s perspectives, and Yuzuki handles them so adeptly that one feels empathy for both — for Shoko, who wants a simple life and her blog, and for Eriko, who just wants a best friend. One can almost feel where Eriko is coming from as she obsessively analyses everything she has said to Shoko during a train trip, terrified of losing her. Shoko, on the other hand, moves from delight at meeting Eriko to genuine unease at her intensity.

They are both lonely women (even though Shoko is married). Neither has friends — Shoko has none at all, and Eriko loses the ones she makes. Hooked is a trip into the minds of both women as they go through cycles of delight, dejection, confidence and paranoia. At different moments, both feel that they have themselves figured out, only to discover that they have not. They are judging each other, their acquaintances, and themselves. And trying, somehow, to find happiness in the midst of it all. As one of them wonders:

“She just wanted to have a relaxed relationship with another person, which was entirely free of sexual desire and profit and loss calculations. To have someone to go to the cinema with; someone to have tea with and talk about the things bothering you; someone whom she would invite to her wedding, and who would invite her to theirs. Someone to talk with on the phone for as long as she wanted. All she wanted was one person like that. Was that such a big ask?”

No central plot, but lots of food for thought… and food too

The elaborate food descriptions that were a hallmark of Butter are present in Hooked as well. Food is always in the background: Eriko works at a food-processing company and is fascinated by a carnivorous fish called the Nile perch (which features on the cover). As Eriko and Shoko visit cafés and restaurants, the dishes they order are described in detail that foodies will relish: “The evenly seasoned noodles slid down smoothly into her stomach. The quantities of the ingredients — the lime, the Nam Pla, the minced garlic, the white and black sesame seeds, the tom yum powder, the sakura shrimp — were all perfectly judged. The balance between the sourness and the spice was so delicious, Shoko could feel it radiating through her whole body.”

Hooked does not have a central plot. There is no murderer to nab, no crime to solve. It is a journey through the minds of its two main characters, showing how they change as they seek friendship and acceptance in their different ways. There are a few unexpected twists, but this is more of a character study than a thriller. Yuzuki is a fluent narrator with the ability to address complex issues without sounding preachy or self-consciously profound. Although the book starts a little slowly, it picks up pace and will keep readers riveted through its 376 pages.

A search for “what really counted”

Some digressions feel tacked on — most notably Eriko’s relationship with a colleague who seems borderline homicidal — but for the most part, Hooked is an intense read that keeps one riveted, not because of suspense about what happens next, but because of genuine concern for Eriko and Shoko: how they manage or wreck their lives, and slowly discover that they may have been wrong about so many things and so many people. Towards the end, Eriko steps into a restaurant and realises: “What really counted was having somewhere brightly lit that would receive solo customers at this time of the morning. Even if this fake food, high in salt and calories, was rotting people’s bodies, and would in the future steal away this city’s signature culture and flavour, that wasn’t important in this moment. This family restaurant had given work to Keiko, who was neither young nor had any skills to speak of, and given a moment of something like warmth to Eriko, who had no friends now, and probably never would.”

Hooked is a book for those who like to read about how friendships and relationships evolve and break down — and how people figure out where happiness lies. And how they fail to do so.

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton)
376 pp
Fourth Estate
Rs 699