We have a young woman who can read minds who works as a live in maid so that she doesn't have to stay in any single place very long so that no one will guess her secret.

Thus begins our journey with Nanase as she works for and lives with 8 different Japanese families and ventures through their thoughts and discovers all their private truths.

As a lover of Japanese fiction i found this very interesting, and i can imagine that it must have been quite controversial in Japan when published and probably still is.   Tsutsui essentially strips away the public veneer of polite and controlled Japanese people and society and suggests that there's something very different lurking underneath: what are their private thoughts and lives really like, can we really take people at face value?

My first book by Tsutsui and i'm looking forward to reading a few more soon, which are already queued up on my Kindle. ( )

The Maid features a telepathic maid, Nanese,hired by eight households where she uses her gift to uncover the secrets hidden beyond the facade of their everyday lives. Whether you'll like it probably depends on whether you have an appetite for the unsavoury or a prurient interest in the murky depths of individual lives. Personally it was to my taste, there's a heavy reliance on Freudian psychology which is executed really well, though might strike some as a bit of an exercise in explication and maybe explains as much as it shows. The reason Nanese has to continually move employer is the fear of her talent being discovered and its consequences, though it slightly stretches the credulity of the reader and is reliant on coincidence. In that sense it's an entertainment rather than being in any way realistic. The style is very plain and makes for an easy read. The stories are well-constructed and compel you to read on once started. Tsutsui has a very pessimistic (or is it realistic?) view of human nature where the civilized exterior usually hides something unpleasant. Nanese herself seems to be the only one to hold on to her ideals and maybe the contrast between her and her more worldly employers is too marked, but it does open a window on other worlds and propels a lively narrative. ( )

'she thought of it as another sense, like hearing or sight'
By sally tarbox TOP 500 REVIEWER on 20 April 2012
Format: Paperback
Moderately interesting novel telling the story of 18 year old Nanase and her secret ability to read minds. As she works for eight families in turn as a maid, she tunes into the secret thoughts of their members- dissatisfied spouses planning affairs, young people despising their elders, an abstract artist who distances himself from his awful wife and son by visualising them as colored shapes, and a number of men who have bad intentions toward Nanase herself.
Sometimes she uses her insider knowledge to push events one way or another, to save a marriage or avoid being assaulted.
Gives a very different picture of Japanese society to the polite, respectful one we envisage! ( )

http://www.bookgeeks.co.uk/2010/03/31/the-maid-by-yasutaka-tsutsui/ ( )