Mittens and Pity - Banana Yoshimoto

It's a city with a mysterious magnetism, where things seem to be cocooned in a beautiful, illusive haze - Where everybody lives in a dream.

These hauntingly beautiful stories explore the lives of six women who, in confronting formative or traumatic moments in their pasts, try to find some kind of peace.

A couple takes a honeymoon to Helsinki after both of their mothers, who had been against the marriage, passed away. A daughter who has dedicated her young adult life to caring for her sick mother, travels to Taipei after her death, slowly adjusting to a new sense of freedom and loneliness