Asleep (novel)

Asleep

File:Banana yoshimoto asleepusa.jpg
Author	Banana Yoshimoto
Translator	Michael Emmerich
Language	Japanese
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Grove Press
Publication date	1989
Publication place	Japan
Published in English	2001
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	177 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-8021-1669-8
Preceded by	Amrita (novel)
Followed by	Goodbye Tsugumi (novel)

Asleep （白河夜船) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto (吉本ばなな）in 1989 and translated into English in 2000 (book was released in 2001) by Michael Emmerich.

The novel contains three stories. All three center around sleep, dreams, and at least two women who share the love of a single man.

Night & Night's Travelers is about a young woman who shared a close relationship with both her brother and cousin. Her brother, Yoshihiro, who is charismatic and romantic, falls for an American woman and moves to Boston. Meanwhile, her cousin, Mari, realises that she has always been in love with Yoshiro. When Yoshiro returns from America, he and Mari become lovers until his sudden death. The story is about the relationship between Mari and narrator, and about how the death of a loved one, and the secrets they have left behind, can affect the people who were closest to them.

Love Songs is about a young woman who is battling an addiction with alcohol. She hears strange music at night and remembers the face of a woman she lived with when they were both fighting over the affections of the same man. She slowly realises that she loved this woman, and when she and her boyfriend realise that she has died, they seek a way to contact her from beyond the grave.

Asleep concerns a young woman who begins a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma.

Publication details

Asleep (English edition) by Banana Yoshimoto

• Hardcover - ISBN 0-8021-1669-8 published by Grove Press
• Paperback - ISBN 0-8021-3820-9, published by Grove Press