Katherine Min’s novel The Fetishist is being published posthumously this month, following the author’s death in 2019; the process of preparing the manuscript for publication was overseen by her daughter, Kayla Min Andrews, and is described at length in the novel’s afterword. This feels important to note, because no matter how pure the intentions for publications were, we might never be fully certain the work on The Fetishist was done to the extent that would satisfy the author herself.
However, as it stands, what has emerged is truly unique, remarkable and in a league of its own, in the best way. It tells the story of three people: Kyoko, Daniel and Alma. Kyoko is a young punk musician filled with anger and resentment at the premature loss of her mother, Emi. She has come up with a plan to punish Daniel, her mother’s last partner and the person she believes to be a reason for Emi’s death. Alma is the current love of Daniel’s life and appears to be scarily similar to Kyoko’s mother.
The Fetishist is a dark novel, at its core dealing with the fetishisation of Asian women by white men, the ideas of femininity and complicity, full of realistic representations of human relationship and emotions. It is also hugely readable, funny and bizarre. It’s only the ending that feels like it’s tied up a little too perfectly, complete with a pretty bow on top – thus slightly diminishing the raw power of the majority of the novel.
The Fetishist, Katherine Min (Fleet)
Price: £16.99/£24.99 audiobook. Info: here
words GOSIA BUZZANCA