The Diving Pool: Three Novellas

The Diving Pool presents three novellas by Akutagawa Award-winning author Yoko Ogawa, exploring themes of love, fertility, and obsession. The first novella follows a lonely teenage girl who develops an infatuation while watching her foster brother dive from a high board into a pool, an attraction that disrupts her life in unexpected ways. The second centers on a young woman who keeps a detailed diary recording her pregnant sister's daily moods, documenting a pregnancy whose reality remains uncertain—and unclear whose perception may be distorted. The third describes a woman revisiting her old college dormitory on the outskirts of Tokyo, a boarding house managed by a mysterious triple amputee. Each story examines ordinary people confronting darker aspects of themselves, presented with spare, beautiful prose that carries moments of dark humor and unsettling implications.