A comic romance set in the snowy north, from one of Japan’s most revered novelists. Available in English for the first time.

Unimpressed by her marriage prospects, 20-year-old Natsuko Matsuura decides to pack it in and enter a convent. But en route to an abbey in the far north of Japan, she meets a young man on a mission, Tsuyoshi Ida, who makes her think again. Travelling together across the wilderness of Hokkaido’s forests in search of the man-eating bear Tsuyoshi has sworn to kill, they find themselves increasingly drawn to one another. With Natsuko’s mother, grandmother and aunt in pursuit, and revenge to be had, the stage is set for an improbable story about the hopes and disappointments of young love, the demands of family, and one very scary bear.