As a native of Japan, Toshi Okamoto has always been mesmerized by foreigners and fixated on dating thin American women. The strange yet riveting novel Audrey Hepburn’s Neck tells the story of how 23-year-old Toshi grows physically, mentally, and sexually. He has always felt like an outsider, since his parents never speak to him, or to each other. It takes his father’s death and a tsunami that destroys the family noodle shop for Toshi’s mother to tell him about her past, his history, and why the house has always been so lonely.

Audrey Hepburn’s Neck shows how exciting and mysterious life in Japan can be. Alan Brown shows us that finding love is a struggle and that you could be searching for something your whole life without even realizing it.

Anybody who enjoys mystery, a love story, and humor will like this book. Most of all, this novel truly grasps how you can feel like a complete foreigner even in your own home.