★ The latest short story collection from Maha Harada, a beloved author in Japan! Winner of multiple major literary awards including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, the Shin'ya Nitta Literature Award, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature!
★ Using the "pearl" as a thread, she weaves together heartwarming stories of grandmothers and granddaughters, mothers and daughters, and female friends, delicately portraying the softness and resilience in women's lives!
★ From Vermeer in Amsterdam to Charlotte Perriand in Paris, and the sea in Toba—art and life gently intertwine in this book, offering a full dose of healing!
★ A gift for all daughters, mothers, and grandmothers: the dreams and courage passed down by women, like pearls, grow more lustrous with time!
★ "Shells are gifts from the sea; pearls hold a mysterious magic"—a gentle book you'll want to give to the important women in your life!

Shells are gifts from the sea.
Within pearls,
lies a mysterious magic.

Grandmothers and granddaughters, mothers and daughters, female friends—
Lives and dreams connected by pearls,
an exquisitely beautiful collection of short stories.

"If I can see that exhibition with my own eyes, I will write a story dedicated to Vermeer"—with this determination, I, a writer, set off on a journey to Amsterdam. ("The Promise with Vermeer")
Admiring her grandmother who runs an architectural design firm in Paris, Anju is studying architecture. Her grandmother shows her a photograph of Charlotte Perriand, and she is deeply moved. ("The Cheer That Day")
Rita, Aomi, and Roka are Harvard classmates. They reunite in Toba after a long time for an exhibition curated by Rita at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ("Gift from the Sea") And others.

Maha Harada
Born in Tokyo in 1962. Graduated from the Faculty of Letters at Kwansei Gakuin University and the Second Faculty of Letters at Waseda University. She worked at the preparatory office for the establishment of the Mori Art Museum, was later dispatched to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and then became independent, active as a freelance curator and cultural writer.
In 2005, she made her debut with "Waiting for Kafū," which won the Japan Love Story Award. In 2012, she won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize for "Canvas of Paradise." In 2017, she received the Shin'ya Nitta Literature Award for "Mr. Leach." In 2024, she was awarded the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature for "Blooming on Board."
Her other works include "Guernica in Darkness," "Salome," "Floating Yet Not Sinking," "The Paintings of Beautiful Fools," "Wind God and Thunder God: Juppiter, Aeolus," "Before That Painting," and "Revolver."