Meian

Natsume Sōseki wrote Meian as his final novel, and he died before completing it. Though he is more widely read for Kokoro, Botchan and I Am a Cat, this unfinished work is often regarded as one of his overlooked achievements. The story follows Tsuda and his wife O-Nobu, whose marriage starts to wobble after acquaintances such as Kobayashi begin hinting at a woman from Tsuda's past. Tsuda then sets out on a journey to meet that woman, Kiyoko, his former fiancée.

Rather than driving toward a dramatic climax, the novel examines the people involved, testing a marriage under strain and asking what it means to be a single person in a rapidly modernizing Japan. Sōseki's sharp attention to everyday conversation and inner doubt gives the book its character.

Readers drawn to Japanese literature, classic psychological fiction, or novels about marriage and personal identity will find much to consider here.