“Why must pleasure always have a price? And why must one always pay for sensual delight with the loss of original lightness?”

Amélie is a young language teacher living in Tokyo. When she succumbs to the attentions of her one and only student—the shy, wealthy, and oh-so-Japanese Rinri—the lovers-to-be find themselves swept along by an affair that is as unusual as it is tender. This is a new kind of love story that pits a woman’s desire for companionship against her strong sense of individual identity. In its exploration of contemporary themes—the confidence of independence, the possibility of love as a form of limitation—Tokyo Fiancée foregoes conventions to create a compelling image of love for the contemporary woman, an anti-Prince-Charming story that is an antidote to traditional romantic fables.

The author brings humor, intelligence, and a refreshing honesty to this highly autobiographical work. Her storytelling appeals to those who feel that their own immediate and personal sense of love is seldom adequately represented in popular fiction. This splendid novel offers readers a quietly revolutionary vision of romantic love.

Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to Belgian parents in 1967. She lives in Paris. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and counting, and been awarded numerous prizes including the French Academy’s Grand Prix for the Novel, the René-Fallet, Alain-Fournier, and Jean-Giono prizes.

• May 30 2009
  Lotus Reads: "a contemporary love story, where the woman's love of independence trumps her desire to be loved and needed."
  
• May 5 2009
  Raintaxi: "Nothomb offers no false resolution of the novel’s conflict between personal freedom and emotional intimacy, and this unresolved tension makes Tokyo Fiancée convincing and compelling."
  
• Apr 4 2009
  Amélie Nothomb Live on the Leonard Lopate Show
  
• Feb 19 2009
  The Asian Review of Books: "Tokyo Fiancee is sparse, sardonic, intelligent, cross-culturally aware, simultaneously detached and engage"
  
• Feb 19 2009
  The Temple News: "Tokyo Fiancée is either a love story about language or a language story about love."
  
• Feb 15 2009
  Metropolis (Japan): "Nothomb skillfully uses the pair’s language exchange and intercultural relationship to offer deep insights into, and make sharp comments on, Japanese traditional culture and Bubble Era society."