There is almost a sinister undertone to this brief, interesting novel. Keiko is a young woman working at the Hiiromachi branch of the Smile Mart, a convenience store – which sounds much cleaner, brighter, and customer-focused than any convenience store I’ve visited in the US. She sees herself as essentially reborn from the moment she takes this job. Early in the novel you know that Keiko is a little different – her flat affect in the narration and veneration of rules makes it immediately clear […]