Michikusa House
a novel
Landmark Prize Winner (2022), Homebound Publications
Longlisted for the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award
+
For fans of Norwegian Wood and Unsheltered, a charming, smart, and compulsively enjoyable exploration of love, friendship, and food culture.
After enduring a complicated recovery from eating disorders, Winona Heeley is struggling to return to normal life. Her mother recommends a change in scenery and arranges for Winona to stay with friends in rural Japan, at Michikusa House.
The centuries’ old farmhouse hosts residents who want to learn about growing their own food and cooking with the seasons. Jun Nakashima, an aspiring kaiseki chef, is one such resident. Like Winona, Jun is a recovering addict and college dropout. While the two bond over culinary rituals, they change each other’s lives by reconstructing long-held beliefs about shame, identity, and renewal.
But after Winona returns to her Midwest hometown, and despite her best efforts to keep in touch, Jun vanishes.
Two years pass, and Win is about to drop out of university for a second time, a decision that irreparably fractures her relationship with her partner of nearly a decade. Refusing to accept permanent failure and disappointment, Winona once again seeks revival through gardening. Much to the chagrin of her parents, she accepts a job as a groundskeeper at a local cemetery and begins searching for Jun Nakashima once more.
★★★★★ Blending flashbacks with a tender love story, Michikusa House is a work of literary fiction that draws on the author’s own experience of recovering from the most lethal of all psychiatric disorders. This award-winning debut takes a critical view of contemporary nutrition science and American food culture while also exploring the transformative power of illness.
“A candid, insightful novel about the benefits of a holistic life.”
“A sensory journey of self-discovery and the restorative power of food.”
“Grandy’s novel inspires in its reader a desire to share in the protagonist’s hope for a life more grounded in nature, beauty, and connection—and that is this book’s beautiful gift.”
