Aoko Matsuda, author of Where the Wild Ladies Are, follows up with a slim but powerful collection of 52 short stories and pieces of flash fiction that address sexism, discrimination, and violence against women in Japanese society, which, with help from Polly Barton's adept translation, will resonate with a broad spectrum of readers.
Though incisive and intense, Matsuda's stories, some of which are only a few sentences long, are rarely straightforward and range from surreal to absurdist. Every piece, however, delivers a pointed message. In "The Purest Woman in the Kingdom," a fairytale prince wears special glasses to see where on their bodies his potential brides have been touched sexually. The only woman in the kingdom who hasn't is one who was taught martial arts from infancy. In "Dissecting Misogyny," the narrator takes apart the hatred of women with a serrated knife as if it were an actual body. And in the title story, Matsuda brilliantly critiques the way women's suffering is used for entertainment: "The woman dies. She dies for the sake of a good story. The woman is raped. She is raped for the sake of a good story. We grow up watching it happen."
There are some lighter stories in the collection, such as "Bette Davis," which describes a séance where a group communes with the actress they adore, but the majority offer a searing critique on the many ways women are marginalized and subjugated. Insightful and vibrant The Woman Dies is both compelling fiction and sharp social commentary. --Debra Ginsberg, author and freelance editor