--- description: Find out why "All the Lovers in the Night" by Mieko Kawakami is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'All the Lovers in the Night' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85e8a2036999f8b/698a37b7e6e84a741b2af8cf/AllTheLoversintheNight.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2022 # All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Mieko Kawakami returns to the themes of womanhood and connection that she explored in her 2020 hit [_Breasts and Eggs_](https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2020/5904431/breasts-and-eggs/ "undefined") with _All the Lovers in the Night,_ translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd. The novel is a brilliantly rendered portrait of a single 30-something copy editor and the varied community of women that surrounds her. Kawakami’s protagonist Fuyuko is in a rut. Her work as a freelance proofreader is grating, and her personal life consists of getting tipsy in a shopping center. But she vows to make changes after realizing how isolated her existence is. While Fuyoko’s efforts to improve her crippling loneliness result in a romantic relationship with a physics teacher named Mitsutsuka, her more meaningful connections are with three women. These women give her newfound purpose—and lead her to make startling revelations about what it means to be alive. —_Cady Lang_ **Buy Now**: _All the Lovers in the Night_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781609456993 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3EgTjUF "undefined") **Contact us at** [letters@time.com](mailto:letters@time.com?subject=%28READER%20FEEDBACK%29%20Stay%20True&body=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2Fcollection-post%2F6228627%2Fstay-true%2F "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/"},"headline":"All the Lovers in the Night","datePublished":"2022-11-14T12:58:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:11:37.214Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85e8a2036999f8b/698a37b7e6e84a741b2af8cf/AllTheLoversintheNight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85e8a2036999f8b/698a37b7e6e84a741b2af8cf/AllTheLoversintheNight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/","name":"All the Lovers in the Night"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022","description":"Gripping novels, transporting poetry, and timely nonfiction that asked us to look deeper.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EeIdKgaD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-11-09T14:12:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EeIdKgaD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228416/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```