---
product_id: 115595085
title: "Convenience Store Woman: A Novel"
brand: "ginny tapley takemori"
price: "2429 kr"
currency: ISK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/115595085-convenience-store-woman-a-novel
store_origin: IS
region: Iceland
---

# Convenience Store Woman: A Novel

**Brand:** ginny tapley takemori
**Price:** 2429 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Convenience Store Woman: A Novel by ginny tapley takemori
- **How much does it cost?** 2429 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/115595085-convenience-store-woman-a-novel)

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- ginny tapley takemori enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Images

![Convenience Store Woman: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51veW3WVCgL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Really Compelling
  

*by L***N on Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2018*

A quick read, and I couldn't put it down. Keiko is very different from other humans, and she's aware of that and tries to fit in, not wishing to rock her family's boat. Her younger sister adores her and as they get older, gives her phrases to use in certain social situations. They protect Keiko by helping her fit in, but since the book is written in first person, and Keiko never mentions a diagnosis, we're left to wonder what exactly is her problem. Some readers have suggested she's a sociopath, and in the non-lethal sense, I lean that direction too. Keiko isn't malevolent, but there are a couple of scenes that carry great foreboding, and you see how she could be very dangerous.The author does a great job of not telling us what the truth is, but rather letting us walk around in Keiko's skin as she observes the other humans around her. From this we pick up hints that Keiko isn't passing for normal as much as she believes. When she gets a man in her life, the metaphoric aspects of the story deepen. For all her weirdness, and for all his toxic unsuitability, the people around her relax and accept her more. They celebrate that she is now part of a couple.The entire theme of the story, in my mind, and as some other commentors have said, is "what we have to do to meet societal expectations." A subtext of this theme is gender roles: what men and women are expected to do. As a flesh-and-blood human adult with the emotional capability of a 2-year-old, Keiko is nevertheless adept at mimicry. So she studies humans and copies their sentences, their voices, and their behaviors in order to fit in. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the body, much like a bad meal. Over and over again, Keiko sees her existence as a cell within a body (her immediate social surroundings), and compliance means she gets to remain within the body. The metaphor is almost chilling, but the story while dark isn't unhappy. It even has a happy ending, a nice positive (if abrupt) character arc for Keiko.What I took away from CSW is that we need to be more accepting of those humans among us who aren't "normal." What I enjoyed the most about it was walking around inside the head of a sociopath. An intriguing, compelling short novel.

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Very simple book
  

*by K***Z on Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018*

I'm not sure if Japanese society is only just starting to recognize and critique conformity, but the conflicts in here come off as very trite, turning this into a simplistic reworking of what American existentialism and counterculture movements already grappled with back in the 60s.  The main character reads as autistic or on the spectrum, but this is never really explored--I don't know whether this was intentional by the author in order to mimic Japan's prevailing lack of awareness towards autistic people, or if the character was unconsciously coded that way with no exploration into underlying reasons for her behavior.  Regardless of the intent, the book feels unfinished, and the characters are two-dimensional.  I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who's already dove deep into existential literature, as there isn't much here that we haven't already heard.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A short, unsettling novel that is worth your (brief) time if you can accept its unusual narrator
  

*by J***N on Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2018*

Convenience Store Woman is a slim, unsettling novel with a dark sense of humor that is largely one-note in its tone and premise: The novel represents the everyday life of Keiko Furukawa a single, middle-aged woman in one of Japan’s ubiquitous 24-hour convenience stores. She has been working as a basic employee for eighteen years, ever since graduating high school. Working at these stores has become the narrator’s reason for living, which seems to trouble almost everyone but herself.The novel does not have an elaborate plot and the drama and tension largely comes from the narrator’s observation of her own life and others as a convenience store employee. But for those who may be looking to read the book because of this conceit, the personality of the narrator may make or break how and whether or not you read the book. While I recommend the book, the book’s narrator main character Keiko Furukawa is depicted as a person who, to quote the character herself: "would no longer do anything of my own accord, and would either just mimic what everyone else was doing, or simply follow instructions."In both childhood flashbacks and repeated interjections throughout the novel it is repeatedly mentioned how “emotionless” Keiko feels she is and how she sees herself  more as a vessel and a representation of the emotions and mores of her environment. Murata often makes it a point to frame Keiko's thoughts and behaviors in each scene to deliberately highlight how both emotionless and nonplussed Keiko can be toward life. Keiko's personality and the reader’s is tested when Keiko enters an unorthodox relationship with a toxic and verbally abusive man. This man is seen as a failure by family, former neighbors and coworkers. In his rage, he sees not just women but all people and the world itself as having personally wronged him. Her relentless tolerance of this poisonous individual and his abuse tests her patience and likely will for some readers as well.The novel’s sardonic humor and grim depiction of the constant pressure for women to get married and have children is a lasting one. I came to see the comedy from the drama of working as a cog in the 24/7 low-wage, high-turnover convenience store world as second to the determinedly emotionless way the narrator sees the world.At 163 pages in the compact hardcover, it is a quick read. I was able to finish the book in a single sitting. Ginny Tapley Takemori’s translation of Murata’s prose is unfussy and delivers the main character’s dry and often deadpan voice simply.

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*Product available on Desertcart Iceland*
*Store origin: IS*
*Last updated: 2026-03-18*