Set My Heart on Fire is Izumi Suzuki’s first novel to be published in English. Set against the backdrop of the 1970s Tokyo underground music scene, the novel follows its protagonist, Izumi, through a haze of fleeting romances and self-destructive indulgences during her 20s. The novel reveals fragments of Izumi’s life as she navigates Tokyo’s music clubs, unreliable lovers, and the numbing effects of drugs. Her experiences don’t have a clear sense of direction, which mirrors the novel’s loose structure. The book’s title aptly reflects the intensity and recklessness that define Izumi’s relationships, whether romantic, platonic, or self-destructive. She is caught in cycles of attraction and disillusionment, forming brief, chaotic bonds that often end in disappointment. That is, until she meets Jun, a musician who seems different from all the others. Yet, as the novel progresses, their relationship takes a darker, more oppressive turn, culminating in a marriage to a domineering, unpleasant man.

Suzuki’s prose is sharp, almost detached in its delivery. There is an underlying feminist critique woven into the interactions with these men, as she notes their condescension and casual misogyny. Yet there’s no grand epiphany – just a weary, almost indifferent recognition of the power dynamics at play. Music also plays a vital role in the novel: references to older rock bands are used as a form of emotional expression for Izumi, encompassing both Japanese and Western rock.

Ultimately, Set My Heart on Fire is a novel of transience, of relationships that burn bright and fizzle out, of youthful recklessness colliding with creeping disillusionment. It’s a novel for those who appreciate stark honesty, a touch of nihilism, and the undercurrent of melancholy that often accompanies the search for meaning. For readers new to Suzuki, this book offers an intriguing, if at times unsettling, entry point into her world.