Yume

Yume

A captivating fantasy novel about demons, dreams, and a young woman teaching English in Japan. “With empathetic characters, terrifying monsters, and a cinematic feel, Yume is a dream that will keep readers awake at night.” ― RICHARD FORD BURLEY, author of Displacement Cybelle teaches English in a small city in Japan. Her contract is up for renewal, her mother is begging her to come back to Canada, and she is not sure where she belongs anymore. She faces ostracism and fear daily, but she loves her job, despite its increasing difficulties. She vows to do her best ― even when her sleep, appetite, and life in general start to get weird, and conforming to the rules that once helped her becomes a struggle. Meanwhile, yokai feast and cavort around Osaka and Kyoto as the barrier between their world and the human world thins. Zaniel spends his nights walking the dream world and serving his demon “bodyguard,” Akki. But there is a new yokai on the scene, and it has gotten on Akki’s bad side. When Cybelle gets caught up in the supernatural clash, she has to figure out what is real and, more importantly, what she really wants … before her life spirals out of control altogether. A RARE MACHINES BOOK Anipare successfully blends Japanese folklore and contemporary life, and readers will be entranced to see the mundane and the mythical collide. This thought-provoking story is sure to win Anipare fans. ― Publishers Weekly [A] cinematic and terrifying story about a collision of cultures and the human urge for connection. ― Helen Walsh, 49th Shelf A captivating fantasy in the vein of Alice in Wonderland and Spirited Away , and yet possessed of its own unique vision and executed with precision, honesty, and feeling. Yume is more than a story about dreams and demons, it's about being a stranger in a strange land, and the yearning we feel to connect with someone ... even if they aren't human. ― Ian Rogers, award-winning author of Every House Is Haunted At its heart, Yume is a compelling story about finding connections ― to others as well as to parts of oneself ― in an increasingly disconnected world. With empathetic characters, terrifying monsters, and a cinematic feel, Yume is a dream that will keep readers awake at night. ― Richard Ford Burley, author of Displacement A growing aura of malice paints every successive page of Yume , an inevitable, unfathomable collision of cultures, desires, colour, light, and sensation. Rarely does a book shepherd a reader so deftly through the strange and magical while weaving in enough of the familiar to heighten the suspicion that, while this yokai-populated, fearsome Japan exists through the imagination of the author, it might also be found just around the next corner. And if you DO find it, beware! ― Jen Frankel, author of Undead Redhead Yume will leave readers wanting to become experts on Japanese mythology, watch a Studio Ghibli movie (or two), and read more stories from Anipare's otherwordly mind. ― The Sarah Berg Blog The more I read, the quicker I read, and by the end, I struggled to put it down. ― Books Outside the Box With a gleaming and uncanny glance at the racial inequality in societies, Anipare creates a dream reality from our fractured, ever-changing world. ― Quill & Quire A love letter to the strange and nerdy Black girls who are willing to embrace life’s oddities and adventures... a fun and vivacious ride. ― Real Change News The two worlds in this novel create a whirlwind of chaos and colour, blending vivid descriptions and well-defined characters to create an intricate realm. ― White Wall Review Sifton Tracey Anipare is a Ghanaian Canadian writer who lived and taught in Japan for four years. She loves video games, bubble tea, and Japanese coffee mixes, and is an avid collector of stickers and stamps. Yume is her first novel. The Wood Where Things Have No Names All things are dreams There is a quiet forest upon a mountain on a spring day. The sky is blue, the grass is a lush green, and the sun is shining. A wide dirt path winds through an assortment of trees: thousand-year-old oak, majestic redwood, thick reedy bamboo, baby spruce, short fat pine, many others with no names. There are no sounds except for the occasional breeze that does not affect the foliage. There are no living creatures, save two: a young man and woman down the road. They hold hands as they walk in silence. The woman’s long hair obscures her face as she giggles into her chest. She covers her smile with a small, demure hand. A black dress jacket tailored for a man hangs over her shoulders, shielding her from the cold. Underneath, a skimpy white camisole is visible. Pyjama bottoms two inches too long, a conscious choice or perhaps a current style. Her feet are bare. Tiny white toes poke out from her pants as they scuffle through the dirt. She walks with tiny, pigeon-toed steps, making it hard to keep up with the steady, rhythmic strides of