Diary of a Void

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she's pregnant

For the sake of women everywhere, Ms Shibata is going to pull off the mother of all deceptions...

Ms Shibata refuses to clear away the coffee and cigarette butts at work one day, because she's pregnant and can't bear the smell. The only thing is . . . Ms Shibata is not pregnant.

Being a mother-to-be isn't easy. Ms Shibata has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Before long, it becomes all-absorbing, and with the help of towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app that tracks every stage of her 'pregnancy', the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve.