India, April 4 -- Many high-functioning women suffer from imposter syndrome. Women, specifically, suffer from it because patriarchy leads us to believe that no matter how successful we are, at work or at home, we will not be good enough. This leaves the individual feeling isolated, and can result in a spiral of self-doubt and hesitation, which is then viewed as "peculiar". This uneasy feeling is at the heart of Hooked, the bestselling Japanese author Asako Yuzuki's second novel to be translated into English, and it is shared almost equally by its two female protagonists, Eriko and Shoko. Big-city girl Eriko is a smart, independent executive, who works for a large food- manufacturing company in Tokyo. An expert in the business of Japan's food imports, she is single, under-confident and almost 30. The other protagonist, Shoko, a small-town girl who now lives in the city with her husband, is the only person who perhaps sees Eriko for who she is: a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a man to validate her existence. A housewife, whose blog is read by thousands, Shoko is on the verge of signing a book deal with a prominent publisher. Eriko is one of her devoted readers. In fact, she is somewhat obsessed with Shoko. The two become friends during a chance encounter at a cafe. Eriko overhears Shoko's blog-to-book conversation with a publisher. While Eriko, who is oblivious of her own achievements, is enchanted with the very idea of Shoko's fame through her blog, the latter is impressed by Eriko's corporate demeanour and doubts the value of her own stay-at-home, wifely persona. Each woman looks at the other with awe and admiration, and in doing so, forgets their own success. Each is so conditioned to feel inherently inferior. Throw in a man, and it's the perfect recipe for isolation and unbecoming behaviour. Yuzuki's first novel to be translated into English, Butter also had women at its core. According to The Guardian, it sold more than 300,000 copies in the UK alone and was voted the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024. Women characters are at the centre of this second novel too, and Yuzuki's ability to articulate the texture of their everyday emotions is commendable. There are glimpses of its predecessor in Hooked. In Butter, Rika's fixation with the gourmet serial killer Manako Kajii was palpable; their psychological influence over each other unfolded almost cinematically. In Hooked, Eriko's fondness for Shoko borders on obsession. When she doesn't hear back from Shoko and is unable to track her down via her blog (Shoko leaves her phone at home and doesn't update her blog for a few days when she goes to visit her father), Eriko puts clues together and figures out her home address. She then turns up outside her home like a stalker. Here's when things start to become muddled. A woman who behaves as Eriko does is invariably labelled unhinged. No other aspect of this disposition is emphasised upon or explored, not even the fact that adult female friendships are complex. Add to that, differences in class, educational backgrounds, upbringing and profound loneliness and you have a looming emotional disaster. Shoko notices that Eriko lives with her parents, is taken care of, and is privileged. She ponders her own family: her mother left when she was young, her brother is irresponsible, and her father is emotionally distant. It is, in her eyes, an inferior family dynamic. In Eriko's eyes, however, Shoko is a star. Female friendships can be both nourishing and damaging, and in Hooked the reader might find the answer as to why this is so. From striking up a conversation in a restroom to bonding over breakups, it's a deeply desired connection that, for some, if they're lucky, lasts a lifetime. Others are left yearning in loneliness....