Meet the author

Asako Yuzuki.

Writer · Japan · b. 1981

Asako Yuzuki: the acclaimed author of Butter, making her children's debut with a warm, funny fantasy about a young witch who refuses to be anyone but herself.

Asako Yuzuki is a Japanese author, born in Tokyo in 1981, best known internationally for her adult novel Butter, a bestseller and Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024. Mari the Unwonderful Witch is her first book for children: a warm, funny and quietly rebellious fantasy about a food- and fashion-loving young witch who refuses to accept that a good witch must always put others first. As in her writing for grown-ups, Yuzuki takes appetite, pleasure and being unapologetically oneself seriously, wrapping big questions about self-acceptance and community in an accessible, playful story. A promising crossover from a major literary name, her children's debut is a good bet for readers who like their magic warm-hearted and their heroines refreshingly themselves.