Portraits of a Mother Audiobook By Shusaku Endo, Caryl Phillips - foreword, Van C. Gessel - translator cover art

Portraits of a Mother

A Novella and Stories

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible Premium Plus.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Portraits of a Mother

By: Shusaku Endo, Caryl Phillips - foreword, Van C. Gessel - translator
Narrated by: David Shih
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.

Shusaku Endo (1923-1996), widely considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, is known for his historical novels, which masterfully probe the encounters between the cultures and religions of East and West from a Japanese Catholic perspective. A salient and curious theme in his work is the unique image of a maternal God, and a concomitant sense of loss and longing for maternal love.

Confronting the Shadows, the semiautobiographical novella discovered at the Endo Museum in Nagasaki in 2020, is the author's most personal work and constitutes the interpretive key to his entire oeuvre. Translated into English here for the first time, it tells the story of Suguro, an aspiring novelist who was separated from his mother after his parents' divorce. Desperate to understand the woman his mother was, he sets out to retrace her footsteps, only to find himself face to face with his own demons. Accompanying the novella are five stories; exploring complex truths in uncomplicated prose, each tale discloses the intricacies of the sacred feminine and the apprehensions and joys of familial love. Endo once again beams bright light on the hidden corners of the human heart in this intimate and remarkable new collection.

©2025 Caryl Phillips (Foreword) (P)2025 Tantor Media
Anthologies & Short Stories Family Life Genre Fiction Short Stories Heartfelt

People who viewed this also viewed...

Silence Audiobook By Shusaku Endo cover art
Silence By: Shusaku Endo
Deep River Audiobook By Shusaku Endo cover art
Deep River By: Shusaku Endo
No reviews yet