I really wanted to like The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee. Yes, despite its unnecessarily long title. (Anyone else getting The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society flashbacks???)
This Japanese novel by Saki Kawashiro (translated by Yuka Maeno) has food, it has healing, and it has community. The description of the book even reminded me my women’s fiction novel, Desserted, that I still hope to find a home for: heartbroken woman finds solace in the kitchen after being dumped by the guy she thought was “The One.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee. I DNF’d it at page 55. And it was a struggle even making it that far.
What’s The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee about?
The main character of The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee is Momoko, a Japanese young woman who’s dumped very suddenly by her longtime boyfriend. Momoko ends up at a Tokyo café after a heavy night of drinking; in the morning, she pours her heart out to the café owner and a regular patron. The owner takes pity on her and, despite what must be a violation of many health codes, allows Momoko to go into the kitchen and whip up her famous curry, which was her ex-boyfriend’s favorite dish.
Momoko realizes that talking about her relationship and cooking his favorite meal was cathartic for her – and she, the café owner, and the patron decide to start an unconventional therapy group together. They invite heartbroken individuals to come cook their ex’s favorite meals in the café and talk about their relationships to inspire camaraderie and healing.
Lost in Translation
Unfortunately, there were a lot of things I couldn’t connect with in The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee. The main barrier I had was the writing itself. Keep in mind that this novel is translated into English from Japanese.
Now, Japanese author Saki Kawashiro may be an excellent writer in her native language; I really have no way of knowing. I’m talking about translator Yuka Maeno’s English language version in this book review.
The writing in Maeno’s translation is awkward and stilted, disjointed and oddly formal. The writing felt like a translated text, and like the translator was unfamiliar with the cadence of the English language.
This made for an uninviting reading experience with dry characters and little authentic emotion. The attempts at comedy fell flat, as if the translator/author was trying too hard to be funny. While this style may (or may not) be true to the original Japanese, or the writing style that Japanese readers prefer, I don’t think it goes over as well in the U.S.
I’ve read (and enjoyed) translated Japanese texts before – The Graveyard Apartment and several works by Banana Yoshimoto come to immediately to mind – so I know that the English translation could do a better job than what’s given to us in The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee.
What I didn’t like about The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee
I also had problems with the story itself. I couldn’t connect with Momoko. She came across as very dumb, naive, and annoying.
The premise of the novel – that a struggling café owner allows random people to cook in the kitchen – seemed unlikely, especially in a post-COVID age. The supporting cast wasn’t very intriguing or endearing, and I couldn’t wait to hit my 50-page rule and DNF this one.
Should you read The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee?
If you read Japanese, I highly recommend you read The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee in its original language. I think it might be a better experience than the English language translation I read.
However, I don’t recommend the Crown edition/Maeno translation of this novel. Interestingly, I’m in minority with my opinion. Lots of readers on Goodreads loved this book. I encourage you to make up your own mind. While I’m not one to endorse Amazon for anything book-related, their Preview feature would be really helpful for figuring out if you should read/purchase this edition.
Although I received a complimentary advance copy of The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee from Crown/ Random House, all opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review or for any other promotion/publicity I’ve done related to this book.
