
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

She wanted to meet her and tell her that this world deserved to be lived in. Or, no – that this world deserved to be tasted, greedily.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
That was what I got divorced for. It wasn’t to make things harder for myself, but to make them more enjoyable.’
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
‘Right. If God exists, He wouldn’t take joy or satisfaction in the sight of suffering. Which means, you don’t have to get through everything alone. You don’t have to always be growing as a person either. The far more important thing is just to get through the day.’
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
Blood and butter both hardened in no time – which was why she would be okay.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
She remembered how the young mother had described her son as someone who felt compelled to start fights with the people he liked the most, who tried to peel off other people’s scabs as well as his own.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
‘I was trying to sumo wrestle all by myself. I was going round and round in circles, and ended up compromising both my workplace and my sense of belonging, and hurting the people around me.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
Rika knew that to get herself out of this place, she had to traverse the bewilderingly long path towards the light. To do so, she had to line up the lowest hurdles she could find, and jump them. Starting by calling upon the people she felt able to call on.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
You should reach out to other people, you should rely on others, Rika had preached to the people around her. Helping and depending on one another is nothing to be ashamed of. But now it was her own turn to be in trouble, she found herself incapable of doing what she’d been advocating.
Asako Yuzuki • Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
The reason the cooking school received as much attention as it did is the preconception that women are creatures who are forever comparing themselves with one another. But that only happens because men try and use their yardsticks to establish some kind of order among women.