Psychopomp. The Impossible Return

The short best-selling novels of Belgian author Amélie Nothomb are published in six-figure print runs and released in forty countries, bringing her numerous awards, including the Grand Prix of the French Academy and one of Europe's main literary prizes—the Strega Prize. This book contains two of her autobiographical novels (2023, 2024). "Psychopomp" is an emotional authorial confession. The title is associated with the nickname of the ancient Greek god Hermes and means "Guide of Souls." The plot encompasses childhood and youth, sexual abuse experienced at the age of 12 in Bangladesh, subsequent anorexia, paradoxical twists of fate, the secrets of craftsmanship, an unusual writing credo, and the art of conversing with the dead, a skill Amélie Nothomb, who is not inclined toward mysticism, manages to master. "The Impossible Return" is a lyrical and very personal novel about love for Japan and a trip there thirty years after her attempt to settle there permanently, described in her famous books "Fear and Trembling" and "The Tokyo Bride." The encounter with familiar streets and ancient Japanese monuments is accompanied by stirring memories, nostalgia, and Nothomb's unique humor.