Un thé pour Yumiko #[nn]

Fumio Obata's watercolor cover sets a quietly contemplative mood, presenting a young woman — Yumiko herself, one presumes — gazing upward with a pensive expression, her dark hair framing a delicate necklace, while traditional Japanese torii gates rise among lush green foliage behind her. The interplay between the figure's intimate close-up and those ancient vermilion gates suggests a story caught between the personal and the cultural. Published by Gallimard's Bayou imprint in 2014, this is a beautifully rendered work that draws you in before you've even turned the first page.