Sputnik Sweetheart  (English, Paperback, Murakami Haruki)

Sputnik Sweetheart is the story of a young woman who falls deeply in love, and then mysteriously disappears.

Summary Of The Book

Sputnik Sweetheart is narrated by ‘K’, a man who is the close friend of the novel’s main character, an intriguing young woman named Sumire. Sumire is an aspiring writer who manages to live off the money her family sends her, as she has simple tastes and few other interests beyond her writing.

As K begins the story, he tells of how Sumire, at age 22, fell madly in love. She is a woman who, till then, felt little in ways of sexual passion as she once confessed to her friend K. But, when she does fall in love, it comes with a passion that threatens to overwhelm her.

This is a love that confuses her, for the object of her passion is a beautiful older woman named Miu. Sumire never had any idea that she might be lesbian, and it is unsettling for her. However, her love is so great, that she changes her entire life to suit its demands.

Sumire is a young woman who usually does not care about her appearance, dressing in heavy boots and oversized coats. But, after she meets the elegant Miu, she begins to change, mimicking the way Miu dresses and acts and speaks.

Sumire accepts a job offer from Miu and  goes with her to Europe. She regularly writes to K, describing their travels across Europe and then finally proceeding to a Greek island. Then, the letters suddenly stop.

One day, K gets a call from Miu, saying Sumire has disappeared and she would like him to come down and help her find the lost woman. As K starts on the quest, he begins discovering strange things that unsettle him.

The plot of Sputnik Sweetheart takes a sharp turn as it opens up strange possibilities, as those that might happen in a fantasy or science fiction novel. Could it really be true, wonders K, as he tries to find his friend Sumire, whom he is secretly in love with, though he never told her that.

About Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese bestselling author.

Other books by Haruki Murakami are The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Kafka on the Shore, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and The Elephant Vanishes.

His stories focus on themes of alienation and loneliness.

Haruki Murakami was born in 1949 in Kyoto, Japan. Influenced heavily by Western culture from youth, he grew up reading books by American writers like Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut. He studied Drama at Tokyo’s Waseda University. While there, he met his future wife, Yoko. Murakami first began writing at age 29. Many of his titles have roots in western music. He is a marathon runner and triathlete. He has won many awards including the World Fantasy Award and the Noma Literary Prize.