Hikikomori and the Rental Sister: A Novel by Jeff Backhaus

A friend sent this to me via the Kindle share program, and after looking at the name, I just wasn't sure about reading it.  I had no idea what Hikikomori was and assumed it was someone's name.  Come to find out Hikikomori is a Japanese term for someone who withdraws from the world.  Evidently there are many  young Japanese men who live in their rooms and refuse to come out.  This story, however, is about an American living in New York City.  Thomas and his wife, Silke, have lost their young son, and as the story begins, he has spent the last three years in his bedroom.  He only leaves at night to buy frozen food that he prepares in a microwave in his room.  His wife seeks the help of a young Japanese woman named Megumi who had a brother who lived in his bedroom.  So the book is about the relationship between Thomas and Silke, and Thomas and Megumi.  It's very well written, and I did enjoy reading it - although there were several times I considered scanning it rather than really reading it because the prose became a bit over the top.  And the writing style was unusual.  Every other chapter was written by Tom in the first person, and every other was written in the third person.  But it worked, and overall I enjoyed it.  -June