A sweeping literary love story by Book of the Month Club Pick, Belletrist Book Club pick, and Indie Next pick novelist Kat Tang, June and Yumi’s Disaster Utopia follows two young women coming into their own as they navigate the aftershocks of the 2011 Japanese tsunami and discover an unlikely utopia.
June, a mixed Asian American young woman, has never put herself or her needs first. But now, she is taking her first overseas trip to Tokyo, exploring her love of Japanese culture, while escaping her family’s expectations and carving out a life of her own. When she gets lost on the way to her hotel, she stumbles into a local bar and meets Yumi—an enigmatic and strikingly kind bartender struggling to keep her jobs and relationships afloat. Over the short days June stays in Tokyo a surprising connection blossoms between them.
Then, the world breaks apart. The catastrophic 2011 Tohoku tsunami strikes, devastating Japan, and ripping June and Yumi away from each other. Refusing to let go of the connection they have, June vows to reunite with Yumi against all odds.
Searching, funny, romantic, and unexpectedly optimistic, June and Yumi’s Disaster Utopia is an intimate portrayal of the aftershocks of love and tragedy, that proves that human connection can rebuild a broken world.