Book Review
Title: A Cat, a Man, and Two Women by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance
Rating: 4 Stars
I didn’t know anything about this book other than we are following Shinako who has been left by her husband, Shozo for a younger lover, Fukuko and she is trying to get him to give her their cat, Lily. We learn early on that Fukuko conspired with her father and future mother-in-law to get Shinako and Shozo divorced so that she could marry him despite Shozo being her cousin. At first, she was happy with him and even lavished attention on Lily to spite Shinako but soon finds herself becoming jealous of the sheer amount of love and affection that Shozo gives Lily. While she is feeling frustrated with her husband Fukuko receives a letter from Shinako claiming that Shozo is saying that he won’t give her Lily because Fukuko refuses to give up the cat and pleads with her to give her Lily. Shinako didn’t ask for anything in the divorce settlement apart from the cat and has made repeated attempts to get Lily from her ex-husband. Fukuko thinks on this for a while and then deciding she wants her husband’s attention she demands that he gives Lily to Shinako despite his pleas that Shinako will abuse Lily which I don’t think is the case but he eventually gives in. Shozo tries to talk with his mother about the situation but his mother agrees that Lily should be given to Shinako even if it is only temporary and they retrieve the cat at a later date as he can’t be seen to not be committed to this new marriage after everything they did to secure it and once again Shozo relents.
We begin to look back at Shozo’s life with Lily, he found her as a kitten which working as an apprentice and when he left that job he took Lily with him unable to leave her behind. For almost the next ten years, it was only Shozo and Lily and it is obvious to assume during this time he formed an extremely strong bond with the cat. Shozo describes how he felt living with Lily, being there when she gave birth multiple times and watching her begin to age and how that has affected him emotionally. He is also aware that Shinako might be trying to lure him back using Lily as bait which is something that Fukuko has also thought of and basically forbids him to leave the house alone in case he drifts back to Shinako. During this time, Shinako is trying to gain Lily’s trust but the cat is stubborn and seems depressed and after several days she finally escapes. Shinako is upset and angry at the cat’s behaviour despite her best efforts but she doesn’t hear anything about the cat returning to Shozo. One night while contemplating her marriage with Shozo which was doomed from the start because of his weak willed nature, Lily returns to Shinako and it seems the pair are starting to get on as Lily is acting in the same ways she did when Shinako was married to Shozo. I felt sorry for Shinako who basically carried her husband and his family on her back because he was too weak willed to hold down a job so she provided over half of the household income alone and it was the townspeople’s sympathy for her that allows the family to survive and settle their bills at the end of the year when Shinako had time to save. She also has a plan of her own but I am not sure what it is as she seemed aware of what O-Rin was planning with Fukuko and she seems to know a lot about Fukuko that she really shouldn’t.
It turns out that Shinako’s plan is to lure Shozo back but along the way she gets genuinely attached to Lily as well but her plan does seem to be working. Fukuko who has no desire to be a housewife and doesn’t want to learn the skills to look after a house is the cause of much discontent in the household. However, she is also quite abusive often hitting Shozo when she can’t get her own way which leads him to thinking about Lily and inevitably Shinako as well. He makes more than one trip to see Lily without making his presence known at the house but never meets Lily during these trips and decides to make the journey but this time to enter the house once again. Once Shinako leaves, Shozo speaks to her sister and asks to see Lily and she agrees taking him upstairs where he can see Lily is be excellently cared for by his ex-wife. During this time with Lily he realises he drove Shinako to behaviour the way she had and that she didn’t deserve what was done to her. However, when Shinako returns he flees from the house before she can see him and the novel ends. Obviously I believe that this visit will spark a pattern in Shozo eventually leading him back to Shinako and Lily and the three might end up living happily together in a way they couldn’t during the time they were married but I guess we will never know. Overall, A Cat, A Man, and Two Women was an interesting story to read and if you like novels that focus on characters and their relationships then I’d recommend it.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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