Diary of a Void

My Rating:

☆☆☆☆

A quick and entertaining, yet strange, little novel about a woman who decides to lie to her employers about being pregnant after finding herself frustrated with the lack of respect she deals with as a woman in a male-dominated workplace. However, as the pretend ‘pregnancy’ continues and she lives her life as a pregnant woman, she ultimately ends up convincing herself she actually is expecting, developing a phantom pregnancy (medically known as pseudocyesis). Readers follow along as she enjoys the new life that has come with her ‘pregnancy’ - schedule and dietary changes, the new group of friends she meets at a pregnancy exercise group, and the better treatment she gains at work - and ultimately, as she begins to experience the effects of her phantom pregnancy. She gains weight, finds herself convinced she can feel the baby kicking, debates and decides on baby names with a coworker, and eventually experiences labor pains. At the novel’s conclusion, it is revealed that a year later she is continuing to hide the fact that she was never pregnant in the first place, digging herself deeper into the lie by stealing photographs and videos of a toddler off social media to pass off as her own.

I don’t think I’ve ever read another book like this; it was certainly a unique read. It did remind me some of Sayaka Murata’s The Convenience Store Woman, given the tone and the odd female protagonist. The story itself wasn’t especially exciting - mostly told in a monotone narrative style - but it was intriguing enough to hold my attention, especially once Shibata begins to believe she really is pregnant, blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s imagined.

Like I said: quick, entertaining, and strange. Glad I picked it up!