A gripping debut set in modern-day Tokyo and inspired by a true crime, for readers of Everything I Never Told You and The Perfect Nanny, What's Left of Me Is Yours charts a young woman's search for the truth about her mother's life--and her murder.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader’s copy of Stephanie Scott’s debut novel, ‘What’s Left of Me is Yours’, as part of the Random Things Book Tour. I would like to thank Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing, NetGalley and Stephanie Scott for sending me a copy of the novel, published in hardback on 21st April 2020.

‘What’s Left of Me is Yours’ examines the extreme lengths to which people will go to protect those they love. The covert industry of the wakaresaseya (literally translated as ‘breaker-upper’) developed in the Tokyo underworld, providing agents which can be hired by one spouse to seduce the other, to provide grounds for a more favourable divorce settlement. In 1994, Osamu Satō hires wakaresaseya agent, Kaitarō Nakamura, to seduce his wife, Rina. The story is told in a non-chronological narrative, switching between the first-person narration of Satō and Rina’s daughter, Sumiko Sarashima, in the present day, and the third-person retrospective narrative following Rina as she falls in love with the enigmatic Kaitarō.

What's Left of Me is YoursInspired by a true criminal case, Stephanie Scott intricately crafts a heart-breaking story of love, loss, and what it truly means to belong to a family across generations. The story begins with Sumi’s discovery of a newspaper report from 1994 on the topic of her mother’s death, which reveals that she was murdered by her boyfriend of the time, Kaitarō Nakamura. Although the plot is unearthed in a non-chronological order, I found that the storyline was incredibly easy to follow, well thought out, and skilfully built suspense leading to the climax at the end of the novel. In this way, information was revealed to the reader as and when it was appropriate, in order to keep the reader guessing at the truth of Rina’s murder.

One aspect of this novel which particularly intrigued me was Scott’s use of formal police reports, autopsy reports, and interrogation manuscripts from the investigation into Rina’s death. I found that Scott’s phenomenal depth of knowledge of the Japanese legal system added another layer of realism, and brought the reader a real insight into the legal process of the crime at hand. As someone who is interested in Japanese culture, it was refreshing to me to learn about Japanese legislation, without the novel turning into an incredibly dense textbook on Japanese law.

The relationship between Sumi, as a child, and her mother Rina was heart-warming, touching and powerful, as Rina comes to terms with the threat of losing her daughter if she decides to carve out a life for herself with Kaitarō. Torn between her love for her daughter, and her longing for Kaitarō, Rina is forced to make decisions which would break the heart of any parent. The lengths that Rina goes to in order to protect her daughter and be with the man she loves is juxtaposed by the greed of her husband, whose only priority throughout the novel seems to be gaining their house and a significant financial settlement in their divorce. This really emphasised the strength of the bond between Sumi and Rina.

The family dynamics present in the novel illustrate how difficult it is for Sumi to feel as though she truly belongs to the Sarashima family. After her mother’s death, she is raised by her grandfather, Yoshi, who maintains the illusion that Rina was killed in a car crash. Having discovered that she has been lied to throughout her life, Sumi is forced to question whether she wants to follow her grandfather into his corporate law firm, or strive to carve out her own path, following in her mother’s footsteps, who chose to leave law school for a career in photography. The motifs of photography and photographs explores the relationships between the characters, how their interactions with one another display their true feelings, and what it truly means to be a family.

For me, the highlight of the book was discerning the truth of the relationship between Rina and Kaitarō, and how this influenced Rina’s relationship with her daughter. Sometimes I tended to disagree with Rina’s decisions, and felt that she often abandoned her daughter in order to be with Kaitarō, even when Sumi should have been her priority. However, the grief displayed by Sumi in both the past and the present day was incredibly poignant, something anyone who has lost a loved one an immediately relate to.

Scott’s prose is innately beautiful, an absolute pleasure to read, and the characters she creates are flawed, honest, and often heart-warming. As a debut novel, ‘What’s Left of Me is Yours’ absolutely blew me away, and I can’t wait to read more of Scott’s writing in the future. Overall, I gave the novel a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.

What’s Left of Me is Yours was that wonderful mix of traditional Japanese culture that clashed with a modern society, that sought to dilute its grip. What intrigued even more was its origins, based on a true story, the notions of a professional marriage breaker seeming slightly odd and maybe unhinged.

I’d never heard of such things before I read this book and it definitely made for interesting reading, as Scott unravelled the unexpected twist. Her characters told the story, Rina, wife, mother, the victim, her daughter Sumiko, left to piece together the puzzle many years later.

The husband, Sato, was truly awful, selfish in his intentions, his main objective material possessions and money.

Sumiko’s Grandfather, Yoshi, whom Scott portrayed as wise, caring, loving but with secrets that lay hidden only to be unveiled when Scott believed the time was right.

Scott made us wait, as she sent Sumiko on a quest, one that was uncomfortable, that made Sumiko look within her own self, to question her own motives and her future.

Scott took us deep inside the Japanese family, full of expectation, the need for a good marriage, to be a good daughter, husband, to work hard and uphold the good name of the family.

We saw what happened when that slowly fell apart, when love overwhelmed and pushed the boundaries. The consequences were like small ripples that gathered speed before exploding in unexpected violence.

I loved how Scott built the story, the many layers, the varied emotions and thoughts of her characters, intentions misread, and ultimately disregarded.

The truth, for Sumiko, was all consuming, shocking, the final scenes psychologically brutal. I admired the strength and tenacity Scott gave her, the consequences life changing yet you knew she would survive, be a better person.

What’s Left Of Me Is Yours was one of the first books that I received on NetGalley last year when I started out on this amazing book blogging journey. It still haunts me! I was so pleased to have been offered a place on this blogtour as it is a beautiful piece of literature. It’s prose is sublime, it’s narrative is outstanding, it taught me so much, it also devastated me. Stephanie has written a book which will live on in my memory for decades to come and completely deserves all the praise that she has been receiving for it.

This book is based on the true life story of a man who was employed to break up a marriage and then ended up being convicted of killing her. He still insisted he loved her. A book that may have the tag of being a thriller is so much more than that. It’s really a deep love story. That between Rina and Kaitaro but also the love between Rina and her daughter Sumiko and between Sumiko and her grandfather.

The story swaps between perspectives throughout the book. It focuses on the love affair between Rina and Kaitaro but also fasts forward to Sumiko trying to find out how her mother really died and what Kaitaros role was in this.

The amount of cultural detail to be found within its pages is vast. This book has been meticulously researched and you would never know that this hasn’t been written by a Japanese writer. I have learnt so much from this book. From the practice of wakaresaseya, to the Japanese legal and penal systems and about everyday Japanese life. I had never heard of the process of wakaresaseya before reading this book. This is where normally a husband employs an agency to send someone out to seduce their wife. This then is used in evidence to help enable the husband to get a divorce. I always forget that for such an incredibly advanced nation Japan still has a very traditional way of looking at things. Divorce is not granted unless there has been adultery, hence the growth of the wakaresaseya industry. It was the level of planning and researching that went into these ‘cases’ that struck me. Nothing was left to chance and no detail was spared. Agents manipulate themselves into whoever they needed to be. However, the person that Kaitaro showed Rina was the real him and they actually fell in love.

I totally fell in love with Rina. Maybe it was because there were parallels that I could see with my mother’s life. Leaving a husband she no longer loved and a constricted life to beginning to find out about herself. The image of Rina painting in her overalls is one that will always play in my mind every so often. What impressed me was a young woman who was willing to go against all of Japanese culture to become free and happy. The bravery and courage that must have taken took my breathe away.

I am going to be honest here that because I am such a prolific reader there are a lot of times that I forget the plots of books that I have read. There is only so much space in my brain apparently. I did not need to reread this book to write this review. It has been sitting there in a hidden place in my brain as I knew it was special. It has this clarity, a beauty. It has wound its way into my heart. I remember all the small details like the dungarees, as well the scene in the park and also eating the ice cream on the beach. I can feel the wind of the sea from their summer house and Kaitaro’s village.

This review will never really do justice to ‘What’s Left Of Me Is Yours’. I don’t have the words or the talent to do that. All I’m going to say it that this book is totally deserving of having a place of my forever shelf.

This was a stunningly original and gripping novel that I’m so glad I finally managed to read. Set in Tokyo, and based around a true crime, this novel looks at the ‘wakeresaseya’ which literally translates as the ‘breaker-upper’. I guess we would use a private detective to set up a honey trap, but in Japan the wakeresaseya is hired by one spouse to seduce another, giving them the upper hand in divorce negotiations.Sato hires Katairo to have an affair with his wife Rina. Sato has never understood Rina or her desires, but it is Katairo’s job to find out and understand her, in order to seduce her. In this case he does.such a good job that they fall in love, Rina is ignorant of how they truly met and their love sets of a chain of violent acts that will affect the couple and Rina’s daughter.

The author has structured this novel beautifully so that we are exposed to Rina’s story slowly and in short bursts. We know this ends in tragedy but for some reason the tension remains in the present day chapters, as Sumiko travels searching for the truth about her mother’s death. Tense, delicate and emotional story telling and definitely unique.

What’s Left Of Me Is Yours’ is the debut book by Stephanie Scott.

When Sato hires Kaitaro, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with his wife, Rina, he assumes it will be an easy case. But Sato has never truly understood Rina or her desires and Kaitaro’s job is to do exactly that – until he does it too well. While Rina remains ignorant of the circumstances that brought them together, she and Kaitaro fall in a desperate, singular love, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will forever haunt her daughter Sumiko’s life.

This story is a gripping and complex debut about the demise and the beginnings of new relationships.

Seen from multiple perspectives, the story explores how Sumiko a lawyer investigates her mother’s, Rhina’s death and finds herself delving into the dark world of wakaresaseya which is when a spouse sets up their partner to gain the upper hand in divorce proceedings. Rhina is set up by a wakaresaseya and finds herself falling for the man hired to lure her away.

As Sumiko looks into the mystery surrounding her mother’s death, she’s finds herself unravelling secrets that were tried to be hidden.

As a debut this is a beautifully written and atmospheric, set against the backdrop of Japan. It’s vividly written and informative about Japanese customs that’s both fascinating and insightful about the culture.

The story is seen from multiple perspectives and from different times and this makes for interesting reading as Sumiko looks into her mother’s death and Rhina deals with falling in love.

A story about marriage break up and it’s terrible consequences, ‘What’s Left Of Me Is Yours’ is an exquisitely crafter thriller and love story that was gripping and immersive.

You can buy ‘What’s Left Of Me Is Yours’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

I didn't realise this was based on a true story, which just goes to show that sometimes life is stranger than fiction (or as strange at least).

Scott has the nuances of Japanese culture to a tee in What's Left of Me is Yours. The story is centered around the bizarre and sordid real-life "breaker-uppers" employed to provoke marital affairs in Japan, where divorce is still taboo. It is a love story that ends in grave tragedy. The Japanese legal system is put under a microscope, but Scott's lyrical and almost poetic prose keeps the story flowing and the reader hooked.

The scene-setting in Tokyo is just wonderful. I know the ins and outs of Tokyo quite well and Scott portrayed it to perfection. That was a real highlight for me.

Stephanie Scott's literary debut is confidently assured and stunning, drawing its inspiration from a real life crime, a heart breaking blend of fact and fiction, immersing the reader in 1990s and contemporary Japan. Scott's research of Japanese society and culture is impeccable, portrayed with subtlety and nuance, in its keen observations and insights, an absolute necessity if the reader is unaware of its marked differences from our world, with its seemingly rigid constraints and limitations. With poetic and lyrical prose, Scott atmospherically and vividly evokes the Japanese landscape and the city of Tokyo which is a central character in its own right in this depiction of the tragic and explosive ramifications of a love affair that is at once everything yet inherently doomed.

In a long term marriage, Osamu Satu is a disillusioned and unhappy man looking to extricate himself and divorce his wife, Rina. To gain the upper hand in the divorce proceedings, in a country where divorce is still a blame game, rooted in guilt and harsh custody arrangements, he decides to make use of the below the radar industry of 'wakanesaseya' a strange cultural practice of hiring someone to seduce your marriage partner. He employs Kaitaro Nakamura to seduce Rina, an act that will tear the family apart and ruin their future with the repercussions that follow. Kaitaro sees and understands Rina intuitively in a way Satu had been unable to do in all the years he had known Rina. Unaware of the machinations that lie behind Kaitaro's presence, Rina becomes aware of all that she is, she and Kaitaro succumb to and embark on a love affair that breaks all the rules, emotions are not so easily ordered or controlled, inexorably leading to murder.

Decades later, Rina's lawyer daughter, Sumiko, answers a fateful phone call that reveals family secrets and brings cascading down all that she knew of herself, turning to ashes all she believed was her family history. In a narrative that shifts from past to present, Sumiko sets out to discover who her mother was, what happened to her, the nature of the Japanese legal and justice system, the truth and anatomy of a passionate and revelatory love and all that followed in its wake. Scott's artful and considered storytelling hones into the heart and belly of Japanese culture and society, its norms and attitudes, the position of women, family, justice, ethics and morality, the underlying cultural acceptance of what is. This is a beautiful, moving, captivating, thought provoking and devastating story of love, loss, grief, marriage, family, deception and betrayal that I have no hesitation in recommending highly. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

Set in modern-day Japan, What’s Left of Me is Yours is inspired by a real trial in Tokyo in 2010 and tells the fascinating fictional account of the crime that occurred.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Rina Satō; her daughter, Sumiko Satō; wakaresaseya agent, Kaitarō Nakamura, as well as Rina’s father and Sumiko’s grandfather, Yoshitake (Yoshi) Sarashima, we learn more about the family’s past and the events leading up to Rina’s death.

Sumiko’s father, Osamu Satō, isn’t a very pleasant man and was often absent and working long hours. He hired breaker-upper, Kaitarō, to seduce Rina in order to escape their marriage and use her adultery to get a divorce, which he knew she wouldn’t grant him.

With a mutual interest in photography, Rina and Kaitarō quickly fell in love after meeting in Atami and their relationship quickly became passionate and obsessive. It made unsettling reading as the affair progressed and events spiralled out of control to the ultimate tragic end.

Sumiko always believed that her mother, Rina, died in a car crash driving home from Shinagawa in March 1994, when Sumiko was seven, and it’s only after she receives a phone call from the prison service, 20 years later, that she begins her quest for the truth and, through evidence and photos, eventually discovers what actually happened.

Sumiko’s grandfather, a lawyer, has shielded her from the truth about her death for all these years. They have always had a lovely close relationship – he used to take her to the temple every week when she was younger – and he cared for Sumiko while her parents were divorcing, as well as after her mother’s death.

I was immediately drawn to this book by the stunning cover and I’m also a fan of Japanese crime thriller and mystery books. I’d never heard of the Japanese marriage-breakup industry and I enjoyed finding out more about this rather unpleasant business!

The scenic descriptions of the various parts of Tokyo, like Meguro and the family’s holiday home in Shimoda, were very well written and really brought the setting to life.

Overall, I really enjoyed this beautifully atmospheric and descriptive book and it was a captivating and emotional read. The story was cleverly layered and built up as we switched between the viewpoints of the characters. It gave a fascinating insight into Japanese culture and the legal system and it was very intriguing to put together the pieces of the puzzle and discover the tragic truth about Rina’s life and death. This thought-provoking and absorbing novel will stay with me for a long time and I look forward to reading more from the author.

"Suddenly he grinned and she did too. He bent down and kissed her hard on the mouth. When they drew apart, it was by a fraction only. "My love, what's left of me is yours," he whispered, and she smiled, relieved, radiant."

In 1994, Kaitaro is working as a 'wakaresaseya' agent - a person who is hired to seduce someone to break up a marriage and provide proof of adultery for divorce. Kaitaro is hired by Sato, who wants him to have an affair with his wife Rina, as he wants a divorce and custody of their daughter Sumiko. What Kaitaro doesn't predict about this task though, is that he ends up falling completely in love with Rina. This sets off a dangerous chain of events culminating in Rina's murder.

Twenty years later, Sumiko gets a mysterious phone call meant for her grandfather. It leads her to look into the truth of what happened to her mother, who she believed had died in a car crash when she was young.

Based on a true story and told from alternating perspectives, What's Left of Me is Yours is a unique debut novel about love, family and betrayal. Completely engrossing and beautifully written, this book is a fascinating insight into Japanese culture and society, particularly the Japanese criminal justice system. There is a huge amount of research that went into writing this book and it shows - I still can't believe this is a debut novel, it blew me away.

A beautifully lyrical, well-placed and immersive exploration of a true crime
in fictionalised form. What's Left of Me Is Yours provides a unique insight into Japanese culture through the eyes of multiple POV characters across two time periods, unravelling a decades-old mystery of murder, love and family.

What's Left of Me is Yours, Stephanie Scott’s multiple award-winning debut novel, is a triumph of a story set against the metropolis of Tokyo, Japan and which shines a light on the peculiar industry that has sprung up in relation to those in struggling marriages as well as the way marriage struggles and impending divorce is perceived in Asia. Inspired by a fascinating true crime awe of murder, Scott masterfully crafts a devastatingly deft fact-meets-fiction epic that barges its way into your heart and mind and has you racing through its pages feverishly. The plot centres around Osamu Satō a long-married man who has grown increasingly disillusioned with his marriage, and as a consequence, pays a fee to Kaitarō Nakamura in order to seduce his wife, Rina, making it easier to demonise her for participation in adultery her in front of the courts when applying for a divorce. But you know what they say about the best laid plans.

This is a compelling, gripping and exquisitely lyrical story and from the opening pages it captured my attention and I raced through it despite my attempts to savour it as best I could. It's a beautifully crafted tour-de-force that I am sure will be in my top ten reads of 2020 at the end of the year. The cast of characters were engaging and intriguing but the main character was really the Tokyo setting which suited me perfectly as a Japanophile; the locations leapt from the pages and I learned many more fascinating anecdotes about Japanese culture, especially the regard marriage is held in in society and interesting information about the criminal justice process. Ms Scott is a huge new talent and this is a pure, indulgent and thoroughly accomplished page-turner that'll appeal to a wide range of readers. I am excited for her future endeavours. Unreservedly recommended. Many thanks to W&N for an ARC.

My thanks to Orion Publishing Group/W&N for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘What’s Left of Me is Yours’ by Stephanie Scott in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel is set in modern day Tokyo with flashbacks to the 1990s and was inspired by a true crime that occurred in 2010. It focuses on a young woman’s search for answers about her mother’s life and murder. While the narrative centres on a crime, it is a literary novel exploring family ties and loss.

The novel highlights a covert industry - the wakaresaseya (literally "breaker-upper"), a person who is hired by one spouse to seduce the other in order to gain the upper hand in divorce proceedings.

Osamu Satō has grown tired of his wife, Rina, and so hires Kaitarō Nakamura, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with her. He wants leverage and believes that it will be easy to trap her. Kaitarō is very good at his job though things don’t go to plan. Kaitarō and Rina fall in love although she remains ignorant of the circumstances that brought them together.

There is no mystery as to who murdered Rina Satō as the Prologue contains a news headline from May 1994 announcing the opening of the trial of Kaitarō Nakamura for her murder.

Twenty years pass and Rina’s daughter, Sumiko, newly qualified as a lawyer was raised believing that her mother died in a car accident. While at her grandfather’s she answers a phone call. They identify themselves as calling from the prison service and ask to speak to her grandfather regarding Kaitarō Nakamura. Her response is “Who is that?” The caller hangs up and Sumiko decides to investigate before confronting her grandfather. She quickly uncovers the truth of the manner of her mother’s death, though questions remain.

Scott delves deeply into the complex Japanese criminal justice system and elements of Japanese society such as the marriage-breakup industry. While writing this novel she spent several years living and researching in Japan.

This was a beautifully written novel that used poetic language and imagery to evoke the landscapes and culture of Japan. The narrative moves seamlessly between its various points of view as well as the past and present. In addition, its cover art is exquisite.

I felt completely caught up in Sumiko’s quest for answers and her desire to come to terms with her loss. At one point she muses on her need to accept her situation and the nature of fate: “A resigned fate that must be accepted because it cannot be changed.” This brought to mind the Japanese literary tradition of mono no aware, which infuses this lyrical novel.

Highly recommended.

This is a poetic masterpiece. It is written with due consideration of Japanese culture and the background of crime, justice and the Japanese court system. Told through the eyes of the two main female protagonists, we travel backwards and forwards in time as their stories unfold. The daughter is trying to discover the truth of how her mother died, when she was a young child. Told with calm consideration until the shockingly emotional climax, I was gripped by the lives of these fascinating characters with their deeply held cultural beliefs, manners and lifestyles.
It's an absolute tour de force and I shall be recommending it to many friends and colleagues.
Thanks to NetGalley for opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review.

What’s Left of me is Yours is based on a true crime story that involved the ‘marriage breakup’ industry in Japan. Something that, if you don’t know about already, you will after reading this excellent novel.
Sumiko discovers her mother Rina didn’t die in a car accident which was what her grandfather had told her and so she delves into the past to discover what really happened to her mother. This is not a thriller (although it is a page turner) or a simple whodunnit crime novel (although a murder is committed) this is a novel which gives an in depth analysis of love, relationships and betrayal. The book is wonderfully paced slowly revealing its secrets and along the way we get to understand the Japanese justice system (and it’s shortcomings).

Beautifully written and richly evocative, "What's Left Of Me Is Yours" is a stunning debut from Stephanie Scott. The book is an exquisite exploration of the long-term effects of loss and lies.

A beautifully written and intricate portrayal of a murder in Japan told over 2 timescales. In the current day the secrets of the past are uncovered by Sumi, a recently qualified lawyer. Interposed are flashbacks to the events leading to the murder.

This book was a little prose heavy for me but it is an impeccably told tale, with many a gem about Japanese justice that caused me to stop in astonishment. A rounded up 3.5* and a very strong debut.

With thanks to Netgalley and Orion Books for an advanced copy in consideration of an honest review.

What's Left of Me Is Yours is a fascinating book which opens up an area of Japanese life most readers will be unaware of, that of wakaresaseya, the marriage break-up industry.

Unknowingly to his wife Rina, her husband pays a fee to Kaitaro Nakamura to seduce Rina so that he can divorce her for adultery. But Rina and Kaitaro fall in love.

When the novel begins Kaitaro is in prison for murdering Rina.
Her daughter, Sumiko, has always been told that her mother died in a car crash but she receives a phone call which leads her to think that was not the truth and decides to investigate her mother's life and manner of her death.

In part a love story as well as a mystery, the book is exceptionally well researched and is obviously a labour of love by the author. Although beautifully written I did find it dragged a little in parts but would recommend it to readers nevertheless. Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion for the opportunity to read and review What's Left of me Is Yours.

I have been totally engrossed in this book for the past few days. It has that sought after rare quality of fiction feeling so true to life that you feel like just double checking yet again that it’s. It a true story.

It is, however, inspired by a news story that the author came across in Japan. A woman was found murderer by the “agent” hired by her husband to have an affair with his wife to give him grounds for divorce. And this forms the basis of this novel. A young woman, Sumiko, has always believed that her mother died in a car crash. However a call from the justice department wanting to speak to her grandfather about a prisoner prompts her to investigate. She discovers he was jailed for the murder of her mother. The story then develops into how a young woman finds out the real life of the mother she only had for a few years and the love story that lay behind her tragic death.

Beautifully written. It will be one of my favourite reads this year for sure.

A superbly, supremely controlled debut here by Stephanie Scott - with a stunning, compelling voice that tells the story with grace, style and passion. The sentences are exquisite, the narrative is beautifully controlled, the narrators are confidently and complexly voiced.

I raced through this book in a day, even though I wanted to stop and savour the prose, the descriptions, the grace notes that bring even the smallest actions in this book to life - characters walk paths, eat ice cream, take photographs and you remember the ways in which they did so for hours afterwards.

The amount of detail, the sheer research and hard work and lived experience shouts out from the page. The variety of voices, children, women, men, young and old, innocent and guilty, are wonderfully handled.

Truly unbelievable for a first novel (or second or third...) - sensational. This will be nominated for and win many, many things.