Surrogacy tale spotlights ethics and morality

Natsuo Kirino's novel Swallows, first published in 2022, has been translated into English

- Ong Sor Fern

SWALLOWS By Natsuo Kirino, translated by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda Fiction/Canongate Books/ Paperback/334 pages/$29.09

The rather enigmatic one-word English title of Natsuo Kirino's novel fails to capture the nuances of the Japanese title. First published as Tsubame Wa Modotte Konai in 2022 and made into a television series in 2024, the work's full name is more accurately translated as The Swallows Don't Return.

Swallows carry symbolic weight in Japanese culture – the birds return annually in spring and are associated with the season and good luck, as well as the concepts of fertility and fidelity. This context gives the title an ominous weight which foreshadows the story.

Not that Kirino's fans need any advance warning. The 73-year-old has made her name – and won some of Japan's most prestigious literary gongs – writing gritty, insightful novels that centre the female experience in Japan's famously patriarchal society.

Swallows is a notable addition to her oeuvre, raising urgent questions about female agency and rights that transcend the Japanese setting to resonate with an international audience.

The reader is first introduced to Riki, a young woman struggling to make ends meet in Tokyo. Her temporary job as a hospital receptionist is both financially and emotionally unrewarding.