I couldn't finish. I got about halfway through, and the story was just too meandering and plotless, I just couldn't imagine it holding my attention for another 200+ pages. This is really two separate books -- a novella (the first half) and then a longer novel (the second half), resulting in a too-long 448 pages. The first-half novella was excellent, a well-written family drama giving a view of what life is like for poor women in Japan, one of whom is a single mother, and I liked the fact that all of the characters were women. But the second half just drags on.