The Third Love
In Hiromi Kawakami’s transfixing novel The Third Love, a Tokyo woman evades unhappy realities through her complex, sensual dreams.
Even as a child, Riko was drawn to charming Naa-chan. While the “enfolding warmth” that she felt later led to marriage, Riko’s happiness was challenged by her husband’s unfaithful nature. Despondent, Riko confides in another childhood acquaintance, Mr. Takaoka, her former elementary school janitor who once trained to be a Buddhist monk.
Takaoka, who “longed to breathe the air of the profane world” beyond contemplative enclaves, consoles Riko, telling her that she can elude her present sadness through the “magic” of her dreams. She follows his advice, imagining life within two other significant historical settings: the “pleasure quarter” of the seventeenth-century Yoshiwara and Japan’s celebrated Heian period.
Thanks to the book’s splendid dreamworlds, it unfolds at the scale of a saga. In her dreams, Riko finds parallels to classic Japanese literature; she assumes detailed, alternate identities while maintaining an underlying consciousness of her modern self. As an oiran or courtesan, Riko experiences an erotic awakening through her sexual “patrons.” As the handmaiden to a Heian princess, she explores further romantic adventures and observes the intricacies of royal life. Each dream phase is heightened by the encompassing historical backdrops, from the economic enslavement of Yoshiwara women to the ordered yet communal structure of Heian court society.
Beyond her nightly visions, Riko gives birth to a son and remains in her imperfect yet compatible marriage. She also continues her matured friendship with Takaoka; in a moment of exquisite restraint, the two exchange a “loving kiss, soft and full of light,” but then separate with gentle detachment, like “a leaf parting from a branch.”
In the mystical, immersive novel The Third Love, heady dreams offer new insights into the waking world.
Reviewed by
Meg Nola
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
