Songs for Ghosts

From Catfish Rolling's Clara Kumagai, a second novel full of longing, love and heartbreak, inspired by Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

Turn the page, strike a chord.

There are restless ghosts to be appeased...

When Japanese-American teenager, Adam, discovers a diary in his attic, he is enthralled by its account of a young Japanese woman's life. A hundred years separate them yet she, like Adam, is caught between cultures, relationships and heartbreak.

She also writes of the ghosts that have begun to seek her out, which Adam dismisses as fantasy - until he too, begins to be haunted. It leads him to Nagasaki, trying to solve the mystery of the diary, and his own identity.

And the ghosts gather...

Review

'This novel is a beautiful tale of love, family and identity... The author masterfully creates a tale spanning multiple generations, with revelations that will leave readers truly gripped.' ― Inis Magazine

'Songs for Ghosts is a thing of beauty, of echoes and of memory. A novel to break the heart wide open.' ― Patricia Forde, Ireland’s Children’s Laureate

[A] smart, nuanced inversatigation of identity, heritage and heartbreak... A deeply satisfying read ― Irish Times

'With all the deftness of a master biwa player, Kumagai skillfully strings together the lives of its characters both past and present. Hauntingly tender and full of warmth, Songs for Ghosts is a book that will stay with you long after the last page.' ― Ann Sei Lin, author of the Rebel Skies trilogy

'With deft grace, Clara Kumagai has taken a strained and challenging song and made it her own... A contemporary ghost story that explores ideas of love and voice with sympathy for the imperfect and a kaidan's atmospheric strangeness, you will enjoy this if you like Madame Butterfly, and you will enjoy this if you don't.' ― Mina Ikemoto Ghosh, author of Hyo the Hellmaker

'Songs for Ghosts is a beautiful and layered novel about love, grief, memory - and how they all weave together. It is at once poignant and sincere, and its story and characters will stay with you long after the last page' ― Adiba Jaigirdar

'An incredible story, perfectly executed' ― Mrs Sydney's World's Smallest Library

With lyrical prose and dollops of magical realism, Clara Kumagai's exquisite Catfish Rolling is a haunting account of a time-fragmented Japan. ― The Irish Times on Catfish Rolling, Best Books of 2023

One of the year's most memorable debuts... an original and ambitious coming of age novel told against the rich back drop of Japanese folklore and culture. ― Observer, Best Books of 2023, on Catfish Rolling

Mining philosophy, science fiction and Japanese mythology to craft a mature, compelling story of loss and tragedy, Kumagai spins the tale of a Japan fractured in time by an earthquake caused by an infamous monster. ― Waterstones, Best Books of 2023, on Catfish Rolling

Sublime...rewarding, thought-provoking read. ― Irish Independent, Top Choice, on Catfish Rolling

About the Author

Clara Kumagai is from Ireland, Japan and Canada. Catfish Rolling, her debut novel, was a 2024 YOTO Carnegie Medal nominee, and winner of the 2024 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year. She lives and writes in Ireland.
clarakumagai.com Instagram:@clarakiyoko