Life at the prestigious Q High School for Girls in Tokyo exists on a precise social axis: a world of insiders and outsiders, of haves and have-nots. Beautiful Yuriko and her unpopular, unnamed sister exist in different spheres; the hopelessly awkward Kazue Sato floats around among them, trying to fit in.Years later, Yuriko and Kazue are dead -- both have become prostitutes and both have been brutally murdered.

Natsuo Kirino, celebrated author of "Out," seamlessly weaves together the stories of these women's struggles within the conventions and restrictions of Japanese society. At once a psychological investigation of the pressures facing Japanese women and a classic work of noir fiction, "Grotesque" is a brilliantly twisted novel of ambition, desire, beauty, cruelty, and identity by one of our most electrifying writers.