"Each chapter of this enrapturing novel is elegantly brief and charged with barely contained emotion." --New York Times Book Review
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.
In Japan, a covert industry has grown up around the "wakaresaseya" (literally "breaker-upper"), a person hired by one spouse to seduce the other in order to gain the advantage in divorce proceedings. When Satō hires Kaitarō, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with his wife, Rina, he assumes it will be an easy case. But Satō has never truly understood Rina or her desires and Kaitarō'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 Kaitarō fall in a desperate, singular love, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will forever haunt her daughter's life.
Told from alternating points of view and across the breathtaking landscapes of Japan, Stephanie Scott exquisitely renders the affair and its intricate repercussions. As Rina's daughter, Sumiko, fills in the gaps of her mother's story and her own memory, Scott probes the thorny psychological and moral grounds of the actions we take in the name of love, asking where we draw the line between passion and possession.
Genre: Mystery
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.
In Japan, a covert industry has grown up around the "wakaresaseya" (literally "breaker-upper"), a person hired by one spouse to seduce the other in order to gain the advantage in divorce proceedings. When Satō hires Kaitarō, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with his wife, Rina, he assumes it will be an easy case. But Satō has never truly understood Rina or her desires and Kaitarō'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 Kaitarō fall in a desperate, singular love, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will forever haunt her daughter's life.
Told from alternating points of view and across the breathtaking landscapes of Japan, Stephanie Scott exquisitely renders the affair and its intricate repercussions. As Rina's daughter, Sumiko, fills in the gaps of her mother's story and her own memory, Scott probes the thorny psychological and moral grounds of the actions we take in the name of love, asking where we draw the line between passion and possession.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"A beautiful, beautiful book that defies genre - and my words... This is truly an epic, meticulously and lovingly researched, with such exquisite description and detail that I read the same lines over, many times…I will not forget this book for a long time." - Louise Beech
"I loved it. Gripping, heartbreaking, immersive. I read it with my heart in my throat." - Sara Collins
"At once luminous and captivating, What's Left of Me is Yours is the best kind of fiction: it tells a truth. All the easy lies about love fall away, as Stephanie Scott explores its often bitter, twisting, aching core. This is a brilliant, haunting book." - Rene Denfeld
"A brilliant debut." - Louise Doughty
"Remember that new-discovery, time-stopping, every-moment-is-magical kind of love? That's what it felt like to read this novel. Then limerence turns to passion which leads to tragedy and suddenly this book is impossible to put down as you speed toward a conclusion that is as surprising as it is satisfying." - Jamie Ford
"Beautifully written, atmospheric, and immersive, Stephanie Scott’s What’s Left of Me Is Yours tells a propulsive story about heartbreak and loss and the greatest mystery of all, family." - Laurie Frankel
"Stephanie Scott’s debut novel is poignant, brave, and compelling; it will stay with me for a very long time." - Clarissa Goenawan
"This novel is a masterpiece. In What’s Left Of Me Is Yours, Scott has delivered a breathtakingly original and haunting concept in the most exquisite prose. I never wanted it to end." - Lesley Kara
"A gripping legal thriller that digs deep into the complications of human emotion. A daughter's quest for truth probes the delicate intersection of trust and betrayal, passion and loyalty, justice and compassion." - Lynne Kutsukake
"With painterly care, Stephanie Scott shows us a tempestuous side of Japan unfamiliar to most. What’s Left of Me is Yours is a virtuoso’s debut." - Jing-Jing Lee
"Stephanie Scott’s story of a woman’s murder sweeps the reader into a world in which love is fused with betrayal and truth is locked away. Beautiful, delicate and brutal, What’s Left Of Me Is Yours, is difficult to put down, impossible to forget." - Marti Leimbach
"Exquisitely written and beautifully told, What’s Left of Me Is Yours is a sensory journey to Japan and the darkest places of the heart. This is the story of the enduring bond between mothers and daughters, and the thin line that separates love and obsession." - Karen White
"I loved it. Gripping, heartbreaking, immersive. I read it with my heart in my throat." - Sara Collins
"At once luminous and captivating, What's Left of Me is Yours is the best kind of fiction: it tells a truth. All the easy lies about love fall away, as Stephanie Scott explores its often bitter, twisting, aching core. This is a brilliant, haunting book." - Rene Denfeld
"A brilliant debut." - Louise Doughty
"Remember that new-discovery, time-stopping, every-moment-is-magical kind of love? That's what it felt like to read this novel. Then limerence turns to passion which leads to tragedy and suddenly this book is impossible to put down as you speed toward a conclusion that is as surprising as it is satisfying." - Jamie Ford
"Beautifully written, atmospheric, and immersive, Stephanie Scott’s What’s Left of Me Is Yours tells a propulsive story about heartbreak and loss and the greatest mystery of all, family." - Laurie Frankel
"Stephanie Scott’s debut novel is poignant, brave, and compelling; it will stay with me for a very long time." - Clarissa Goenawan
"This novel is a masterpiece. In What’s Left Of Me Is Yours, Scott has delivered a breathtakingly original and haunting concept in the most exquisite prose. I never wanted it to end." - Lesley Kara
"A gripping legal thriller that digs deep into the complications of human emotion. A daughter's quest for truth probes the delicate intersection of trust and betrayal, passion and loyalty, justice and compassion." - Lynne Kutsukake
"With painterly care, Stephanie Scott shows us a tempestuous side of Japan unfamiliar to most. What’s Left of Me is Yours is a virtuoso’s debut." - Jing-Jing Lee
"Stephanie Scott’s story of a woman’s murder sweeps the reader into a world in which love is fused with betrayal and truth is locked away. Beautiful, delicate and brutal, What’s Left Of Me Is Yours, is difficult to put down, impossible to forget." - Marti Leimbach
"Exquisitely written and beautifully told, What’s Left of Me Is Yours is a sensory journey to Japan and the darkest places of the heart. This is the story of the enduring bond between mothers and daughters, and the thin line that separates love and obsession." - Karen White
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Stephanie Scott's What's Left of Me Is Yours