The Woman in the Purple Skirt Summary
Natsuko Imamura

The Woman in the Purple Skirt Overview

In Natsuko Imamura's first person novel The Woman in the Purple Skirt, when the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan becomes obsessed with a purple-skirt wearing woman in her neighborhood, she invents an elaborate plan to become her friend. The longer the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan follows and watches the Woman in the Purple Skirt, however, the less capable she feels of introducing herself. When the two women begin working at the same hotel, relationships and dramas amongst the other members of the staff complicate the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan's distorted attempts at closeness. Imamura's dead-pan thriller explores complex themes including invisibility, obsession, and loneliness.