The Nine Books is an ode to the slow life, and to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. A high-concept novel made of interconnected stories and built on a unique and timeless universe.
With her trademark lyrical style, Haru celebrates ancient values—such as sensitivity, respect, dedication, and generosity—by weaving together intimate, domestic stories. Each narrative, though seemingly small and personal, reflects timeless ideals that have shaped society for centuries and, as these stories intertwine, they reveal how these values endure and continue to resonate in our daily lives. In this universe, the gratitude of a village causes a freshwater lake to emerge from the dry earth, where a chess teacher feels at peace when her disciple defeats her in a game, and where twenty-five kaolin clay urns allow a father to mourn the death of his son.
Haru’s prose carries the quiet wisdom and strength of a mantra or a ritual, which makes The Nine Books a novel brimming with life-changing wisdom. Each page is imbued with spirituality, philosophy, and hedonism that Haru blends to celebrate ancient practices such as pottery and chess, and the simplest pleasures, such as walking barefoot, smelling a bouquet of chrysanthemums, or praising a disciple’s success.
Eligible for the Institut Ramon Llull translation grants