Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2025

Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka Isawa has severe spine curvature and uses an electric wheelchair and ventilator. Within the limits of her care home, her life is lived online: she studies, she tweets indignantly, she posts outrageous stories on an erotica website. One day, a new male carer reveals he has read it all – the sex, the provocation, the dirt. Her response? An indecent proposal…

Written by the first disabled author to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award and acclaimed instantly as one of the most important Japanese novels of the twenty-first century, Hunchback is an extraordinary, thrilling glimpse into the desire and darkness of a woman placed at humanity’s edge.

REVIEWS

"Unapologetic, unashamed and unflinching. Hunchback grips the reader with its raw, fizzing, subversive energy, even as it shakes off shackles ― both physical and mental. A book that moved and thrilled us.". -- International Booker Prize judges

"A must-read debut. Funny and frank, this book lingers in the mind long after you turn the final page." ― BBC Books of 2025

"Written with guts and wit, Hunchback is a tender and defiant story which forces readers to think far beyond ableist concepts of who gets to desire and be desired." ― Best Books of 2025, AnOther Magazine

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 978-0241700785
Pages:  112