Honeybees and Distant Thunder

The Night Circus meets Lonely Castle in the Mirror in this multi-award-winning Japanese bestseller, available finally in an English translation by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami.

Welcome to a magical world of music, friendship and rivalry...

In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three friends will experience some of the most joyous – and painful – moments of their lives.

Aya was a piano genius, until she ran away from the stage and vanished; will the tall and talented Makun bring her back? Or will it be child of nature, Jin, a pianist without a piano, who carries the sound of his father's bees wherever he goes?

Each of them will break the rules, awe their fans and push themselves to the brink. But at what cost?

Tender, cruel, compelling, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry. Most of all, it shows how three young people reconcile with the highs and lows of what it means to truly be a friend.

About the Author

Riku Onda is a No.1 bestselling author in Japan. She grew up in Sendai and attended Waseda University, where she played the alto saxophone in a student band. A book lover from an early age, she left an office job to try her hand at writing. In 1991, Onda won an award with her first novel, and became a full-time writer soon after. In 2003, after overcoming a fear of flying, she visited the UK and Ireland, and later lived in South America, where she reported for NHK television on Mayan and Incan culture. As her father was a music enthusiast, Onda grew up listening to classical music and played the piano from a young age, later discovering Western rock and jazz She is the first writer to be awarded the Japan Booksellers Award twice. In 2017, her novel Honeybees and Distant Thunder was awarded both the Naoki Prize and the Japan Booksellers' Award, the first time a novel has won both. It became an instant No. 1 bestseller in Japan, going on to sell several million copies. It was also made into a highly successful Japanese-language film called Listen to the Universe.

About the Translator

Philip Gabriel is the author of Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature and Spirit Matters: The Transcendent in Modern Japanese Literature and has translated many novels and short stories by the writer Haruki Murakami and other modern writers. He is recipient of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature (2001) for his translation of Senji Kuroi’s Life in the Cul-de-Sac, and the 2006 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for his translation of Murakami's Kafka on the Shore.

Reviews

"A thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship and personal demons ... Onda beautifully conveys the transcendent power of classical music in all its emotive, psychological and visceral glory." ―Observer

"A pitch-perfect, vivid masterpiece. A celebration of the love and joy inherent in the act of creating and appreciating music. Honeybees and Distant Thunder contains a warm frequency that vibrates with life and soul." ―Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City

"Propulsive and poetic" ―Kirkus Reviews

"Deeply moving. The now-ness of Onda's writing left me more than once with a big, goofy grin on my face or tears on my cheeks." ―Donna Edwards, Associated Press

"A fine performance" ―Irish Times

Dimensions: 12.7 x 2.6 x 19.7 cm