Butter

'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki’s new novel Butter … contains delicious descriptions' Nigel Slater, Guardian Feast newsletter

'A deliciously dark tale … examining power and greed through a feminist lens. Yuzuki has created a cult phenomenom' iNews

‘Exuberant, indulgent romp of a novel … Butter is a full-fat, Michelin-starred treat … Let this book bring you under its spell’ Sunday Times

‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ Daily Mail

‘A unique and, at times, unsettling read … Butter holds countless surprises … you’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time ’ Stylist

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it ’ Observer

‘ Ambitious and unsettling … a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society’s impossibly contradictory expectations of women’ Guardian

' Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable … Butter will churn your brain and your stomach with panache’ Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?

‘An unputdownable, breathtakingly original novel … I will be spoon-feeding Butter to every woman I know’ Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key

' I devoured this dark and delicious novel ' Imogen Crimp, author of A Very Nice Girl

‘ A delectable meditation on appetite, fatphobia and misogyny in modern Japan … a salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ Alice Slater, author of Death of A Bookseller

‘A biting satire on fat-shaming culture and double standards in beauty’ Financial Times

‘The perfect mix of crime thriller, twisted feminist fantasy and gourmet cooking – what more could you want?’ Independent

‘Cleverly intertwines paeans to the pleasures of eating with indictments of Japan’s standards for women’ New Yorker

‘ A heady serving of food culture and feminism … Yuzuki goes beyond the typical crime narrative’ Japan Times

‘A delicious novel’ i-D

'It'll make your mouth water' Irish Independent

'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki’s new novel Butter … contains delicious descriptions' Nigel Slater, Guardian Feast newsletter

'A deliciously dark tale … examining power and greed through a feminist lens. Yuzuki has created a cult phenomenom' iNews

‘Exuberant, indulgent romp of a novel … Butter is a full-fat, Michelin-starred treat … Let this book bring you under its spell’ Sunday Times

‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ Daily Mail

‘A unique and, at times, unsettling read … Butter holds countless surprises … you’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time ’ Stylist

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it ’ Observer

‘ Ambitious and unsettling … a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society’s impossibly contradictory expectations of women’ Guardian

' Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable … Butter will churn your brain and your stomach with panache’ Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?

‘An unputdownable, breathtakingly original novel … I will be spoon-feeding Butter to every woman I know’ Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key

' I devoured this dark and delicious novel ' Imogen Crimp, author of A Very Nice Girl

‘ A delectable meditation on appetite, fatphobia and misogyny in modern Japan … a salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ Alice Slater, author of Death of A Bookseller

‘A biting satire on fat-shaming culture and double standards in beauty’ Financial Times

‘The perfect mix of crime thriller, twisted feminist fantasy and gourmet cooking – what more could you want?’ Independent

‘Cleverly intertwines paeans to the pleasures of eating with indictments of Japan’s standards for women’ New Yorker

‘ A heady serving of food culture and feminism … Yuzuki goes beyond the typical crime narrative’ Japan Times

‘A delicious novel’ i-D

'It'll make your mouth water' Irish Independent

Asako Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981. She won the All Yomimono Award for New Writers for her story, ’Forget Me, Not Blue’, which appeared in her debut, Shuuten No Anoko , published in 2010. She won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Award in 2015 for Nile Perch No Joshikai . She has been nominated multiple times for the Naoko Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio and film. Butter won Waterstones Book of the Year 2024, as well as the Books Are My Bag Breakthrough Author Award the same year. In 2025 it was awarded Fiction Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards and was shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award.