What happens when the recipe for a good life is no longer provided by society, and in the way of comfort, hard-earned social status, and love, stands a choice that feels profoundly wrong?

Ainoat lapset (Eng. Only Children) is Liisa Stenberg’s debut novel about big decisions in life, set in the aging society of future Japan.

In the future, the climate crisis and the governmental population control have made a childless lifestyle the norm. When Japan suddenly abandons the one-child policy, many people’s lives change.

Rina, a 37 year old event planner from Kyoto, has grown up as an only child. As Japan’s direction changes, Rina’s boyfriend’s family begins to pressure the couple to continue the family line. Rina must weigh whether she is willing – or able – to bring a child into the world.

Suddenly, what was once considered wrong is permitted, and what Rina herself has learned to believe is right stands in conflict with the expectations of society and those closest to her. What happens when the recipe for a good life is no longer provided by others, and in the way of comfort, hard-earned social status, and love, stands a choice that feels profoundly wrong?

Only Children turns upside down the prejudices faced by modern-day childless adults and invites the reader to reflect on the meaning of family. Through the lives of Rina and her friends, the novel offers a compelling portrait of future Japan and raises fundamental questions about the fate of those parts of the planet that remain habitable.