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A celebration of sisterhood, friendship, love,
and the quiet miracle of human connection.
Michiko Aoyama is an acclaimed voice in healing and cosy fiction. Her English debut, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library (trans. Alison Watts), became an international bestseller and was selected for TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023. Her second work in English, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park (trans. Takami Nieda), was published in August 2025.
With Chocolate Pieces, Aoyama pushes the interconnected story format to new heights. The novel is composed of very short linked vignettes, each structured around a chocolate motif, together tracing the arc of one woman's life through scenes emblematic of a particular emotion or life stage. Then, in a quietly revelatory second movement, the same scenes are retold from other characters' perspectives — adding depth, warmth, and a gently comic awareness of how thoroughly we misread one another.
Yet the novel's animating spirit is not irony but hope. Through goodwill, patience, and the stubborn human desire to connect, misunderstanding gives way to understanding, and the miracle of genuine communion prevails. It is this generous, life-affirming vision that gives Chocolate Pieces its universal appeal.
Aoyama's most formally ambitious work to date — and her most tender.
Michiko Aoyama (b. 1970, Aichi Prefecture) began her career as a journalist at a Japanese newspaper in Sydney. After two years in Australia, she returned to Japan, working as a magazine editor before becoming an author. Her debut novel Drink Cocoa on Thursday won the 1st Miyazaki Book Grand Prize. The Cat’s Prophecy Under the Tree received the 13th Tenryū Literary Award. Her five consecutive Booksellers’ Award nominations (2021–2025).
