It’s Time to Bake a Butter Cake

This summer, simplicity beats perfection.

The cheery yellow cover of Asako Yuzuki’s Butter, stained with streaky blood-red fingerprints, wasn’t the first thing that drew me in. It was the title. And, okay, a very me-coded blurb: “An exuberant, indulgent romp of a novel…Butter is a full-fat, Michelin-starred treat.”

I picked up the book earlier this summer from Yu & Me Books, a bookstore in China…