When the Museum is Closed
- Author Emi Yagi
- Narrator Kae Alexander
- Publisher Random House
- Publish Date 10 July 2025
- Run Time 3 hours and 48 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Fiction in translation, Magical realism, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, The Arts.
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
A quirky, joyful queer love story about a lonely museum worker who falls in love with a statue of Venus
Rika Horauchi’s new part-time job is to converse with a statue of Venus – in Latin – every Monday, when the museum is closed.
Initially reluctant, Rika starts to enjoy her strange new job. Recommended by her old university professor for her exemplary language skills, Rika leads an otherwise unassuming life, working the rest of the week in a frozen-food warehouse.
As Venus comes to life in the quiet of the museum, they talk about everything. Venus opens up new worlds for Rika, both intellectually and emotionally. They soon fall in love. But when the museum’s curator, Hashibami, makes it clear he wants to keep Venus for himself, what will Rika do?
When the Museum is Closed is by turns charming, funny and surprising, a surreal take on our most real emotions and concerns: love, loneliness, freedom, perceptions of beauty and how women are seen in society. A joyful queer love story, this fresh and original new novel confirms Emi Yagi as one of the most exciting Japanese writers published in English today.
Translated by Yuki Tejima
'Filled with movement and passion - a luminous story that reveals a whole world of desire and possibility, right at the heart of loneliness' Rosie Price, author of THE ORANGE ROOM
© Emi Yagi 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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