Hunchback, Saou Ichikawa
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, is an own voices novella centring around Shaka, who has a congenital muscle disorder. Shaka is confined to a wheelchair and reliant on a ventilator in her daily life. She lives in a private care home owned by her family where her life is mostly lived out online. She tweets with abandon, engages with distance learning and writes stories for an erotica website. One day, one of her carers alerts Shaka to the fact that he is aware of her life online and has read all her erotic stories and tweets, prompting Shaka to make an indecent proposal to fulfil a specific desire she has been desperate to act on.
This is a short but very confronting novel that deals with how society has desexualised disabled people. It forces you to consider Shaka’s limited life and her wants and needs. The writing is sparse and there is a detached style which I often enjoy in translated literature. This book will not be for everyone due to its detailed depictions of medical procedures and Shaka’s sexual fantasy, which is contentious and unfathomable. However, if you are willing to open your mind and consider things you’ve never had to think about before, regardless of their confronting nature. you will enjoy this reading experience and the book’s incredibly thought-provoking ending.
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