Hunchback: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing Hunchback, a Japanese novella written by Saou Ichikawa and translated by Polly Barton. Keep reading what we thought of this novella and if you should read it too!

Hunchback Summary

Izawa Shaka lives in a group care facility and suffers from myotubular myopathy  She writes pornogrophy stories as a part time writer. When she is isn’t writing, she often shares tweets on her anonymous twitter page, sharing her deepest desires.

One day, when her usual caretaker is sick, Izawa is assigned a male caretaker. The following interaction leaves Izawa shaken and she decides to take initiate and do the thing that she has been unable to do because of her situation.

Commentary

Hunchback was first serialized in Bungakukai in May 2023 before being published by Bungeishunjū later that year. The novella went on to win the  Akutagawa Prize the same year, making Ichikawa the first disabled author to win the prize.

In 2025, the novella was translated to English by Polly Barton. The translation went on to being long listed for the International Booker Prize. Ichikawa started working on the novella while in university, researching the representation of disabled people in literature.

I decided to read Hunchback after seeing it listed for the International Booker Prize and reading the blurb. And I am glad that I did because this is a fantastic novella. You rarely get a protagonist that is disabled and Ichikawa’s writing is informative as well as critical of Japan’s lack of aid to disabled people.

The novella has some surprises and I won’t ruin them for any reader eager to read it. Ichikawa is a talented writer and I am happy that her novella has received a lot of attention. Besides this being a great novella, it is also an important work of literature, giving representation to a group that is often neglected in works of literature all across the world.

Conclusion

Before this year, I didn’t read novellas often. But I am learning that novellas may be just as important as novels and deserve a lot more attention. A story can be short and still say so much. Hunchback is perfect as it is and I would recommend it to all my fellow readers. Happy reading!

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