''Mieko Kawakami is always ceaselessly growing and evolving.'' Haruki Murakami, author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles Told through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old boy subjected to relentless bullying, this is a haunting novel of the threat of violence that can stalk our teenage years. Instead of putting up resistance, the boy suffers in complete resignation. His sole ally is a girl classmate similarly outcast and similarly preyed upon by the bullies of the school. They meet in secret in the hopes of avoiding any further attention and take solace in each other''s company, completely unaware that their relationship has not gone unnoticed by their tormentors . . .Heaven, Mieko Kawakami''s deceptively simple yet profound work, stands as a testament to her remarkable literary talent. Here she asks us to question the fate of the meek in a society that favours the strong, and the lengths that even children will go in their learned cruelty. Perfect for fans of edouard Louis, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld or Yoko Ogawa.