He soon gets a surprising call from Miu, who asks him to fly to Greece and mentions that something has happened to Sumire. The only answer he gets, however, is from her answering machine. In her last letter, Sumire mentions that instead of coming home as originally planned, she and Miu are to spend some extra time on a Greek island vacationing.Īfter a short while, K begins to call Sumire's house wondering when she will return.

With them, he is able to track Sumire's and Miu's business travels across the continent. K suddenly begins to receive letters from Europe written by Sumire. This meeting and the ensuing relationship between the women leads to Sumire changing: she starts wearing nicer clothes, gets a better apartment, and quits smoking however, she also develops a writer's block. Miu soon asks Sumire to come work for her. This is the first time she has ever been sexually drawn to anybody. The two strike up a conversation and Sumire finds herself attracted to the older woman. At a wedding, Sumire meets an ethnic Korean woman, Miu, who is 17 years her senior. K is an elementary school teacher, 25 years old, and in love with Sumire, though she does not quite share his feelings. Sumire is an aspiring writer who survives on a family stipend and the creative input of her only friend, the novel's male narrator and protagonist, known in the text only as 'K'. An English translation by Philip Gabriel was then published in 2001. Sputnik Sweetheart ( スプートニクの恋人, Supūtoniku no Koibito) is a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in Japan, by Kodansha, in 1999.

Sumire haruki murakami