Ryū Murakami’s novel begins with a personal scheme conducted under professional pretenses.
Aoyama is searching for a new wife when his friend Yoshikawa proposes fake film auditions in Ryū Murakami’s Audition. The applicants believe they are responding to a casting opportunity; Aoyama is privately treating the process as a way to find a partner. Primary source: official synopsis and credits.
He has been widowed for seven years, and his teenage son Shige also wants him to remarry. Among the applicants, the ballerina Yamasaki Asami attracts his attention. Primary source: official synopsis and credits.
The novel’s setup rests on that difference between the stated purpose of the auditions and the purpose hidden from the women applying. As Aoyama becomes attached to Asami, he sets aside doubts about the relationship. Primary source: official synopsis and credits.
Bloomsbury’s paperback edition is listed at 208 pages. Its synopsis presents the casting scheme as the beginning of the thriller, with Aoyama’s growing unease following the deception that brought the pair together. Primary source: official synopsis and credits.