Autofiction book cover by Hitomi Kanehara

Autofiction

Adult • General Interest
Rin's honeymoon spirals into chaos Narrative unfolds in reverse chronology Rin's troubled adolescence shapes her Central conflict: trust in relationships Key moments reveal her dark past

Rin is twenty-two, with a troubled adolescence behind her. She is flying back from her honeymoon, madly in love with her husband, Shin, and the future looks rosy. Then Shin disappears to the bathroom while he thinks Rin is sleeping and she starts to imagine that he has gone to seduce the flight attendant. As her thoughts spiral out of control the phrase 'madly in love' takes on a more sinister meaning.

Prizewinning author Hitomi Kanehara's sensational new novel, "Autofiction", follows Rin's life backwards through time from this moment so that we see her when she is eighteen, sixteen and finally fifteen, and a picture of the dark heart and violent past of this disturbed young woman gradually develops.

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Edition information

Book details

Publisher
Vintage Books USA
Publication date
2025
Print length
216 pages
Language
English
ISBN
9780099515982

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Reader guide

What to Know Before Reading Autofiction

A raw, unsettling psychological novel that explores the blurred lines between reality, memory, and trauma. The story follows Rin, a young woman living in Tokyo who is deeply haunted by the sudden, tragic death of her high school friend. Struggling to process her grief and guilt, Rin spirals into a destructive loop of substance abuse, toxic relationships, and self-harm. As she attempts to navigate her fractured everyday life, her grip on what is real begins to slip.

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G-NRIS™ story intelligence

Why readers connect with Autofiction

A concise view of the book’s strongest literary signals and the reading interests shared by people connected to it on bks.social.

Reader connection

Readers connected to this book most often reflect Psychological Moral Explorer reader archetypes. Their strongest shared genre interests include Literary Fiction, Crime, Mystery, and Thriller. They are commonly drawn to themes such as Exploring The Fractured Self, Understanding Human Nature, Psychological Moral Explorer, and Exploring Justice And Consequence.

About the author

Hitomi Kanehara

Hitomi Kanehara

Hitomi Kanehara is a Japanese novelist. Her novel Hebi ni piasu won Subaru Literary Award and the Akutagawa Prize, and sold over a million copies in Japan. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.
Author information: Wikipedia

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