Fiction > Fantasy
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The City and Its Uncertain Walls (Paperback)
Haruki Murakami

A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, a breathtaking new novel about the boundaries between worlds and individuals, from the Sunday Times bestseller. When a young man’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he sets his heart on finding the imaginary city where her true self lives. His search will lead him to take a job in a remote library with mysteries of its own.

When he finally makes it to the walled city, a shadowless place of horned beasts and willow trees, he finds his beloved working in a different library – a dream library. But she has no memory of their life together in the other world and, as the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur, he must decide what he’s willing to lose. The ultimate treat for Murakami fans this Christmas.

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Media Reviews

‘Quietly miraculous’ Telegraph

‘Bewitching’ Financial Times

‘Enveloping’ Independent

What We Think

We think that The City and Its Uncertain Walls is an excellent book that isn't for everyone. The story is about a boyfriend looking for his missing girlfriend, by finding the imaginary city her true self lives in. That's already pretty strange, but throw in that the book is also about libraries, and you have a very unusual book.

All the reviews use the word ‘dreamy’, and the book is very cerebral. If it's action you are looking for, or any sort of standard type of fantasy archetype, then I would give this one a miss. If you are after something a bit different, then dive right in.

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A Bit More Info

The Author

Author: Haruki Murakami
Nationality: Japanese

The Book

Format: Paperback
Pages: 464
Published: 2025-09-09
First Published: 2023
ISBN: 9781529926941

The Place

Continent: Asia
Country: Japan
City: Tokyo

The Sub-Genres

  • Magical Realism
  • Translated Fiction

The Setting

  • City
  • Fictional world

The Themes

  • Loneliness
  • Identity
  • Grief

The Writing Style

  • First person perspective
  • Character driven
  • Slow paced