{"product_id":"welcome-to-sunny-town-1","title":"Welcome to Sunny Town","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this striking debut novel, a young artist rashly moves overseas to teach ESL and to find herself, and gets more — and less — than she bargained for.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt's the turn of the 21st century and Maggie is looking for reinvention. Fresh out of art school with — as her undergraduate advisor put it — \u003ci\u003ea lack of vision for her future\u003c\/i\u003e, Maggie follows a talented classmate to Japan, leaving behind a fractured family and a toxic relationship with her professor. Little does she know, not only her own life, but the entire world around her is about to change.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpon arrival in Japan, Maggie meets a group of maladjusted foreigners and immediately becomes enmeshed in their volatile friendships and personal dramas. Despite having no real qualifications whatsoever, she gets a job teaching English at Language Love Academy where she meets Keiko, an overzealous, middle-aged student and self-proclaimed language lover. When Keiko offers to teach Maggie Japanese, an unlikely friendship develops between them, and before long Keiko has become a ballast amid the disruptive forces in Maggie's life overseas. Have Maggie and her friends come to Japan to disappear or find themselves? Are their friendships and hook-ups real or just another illusion? Maggie struggles to discern whether she is sinking deeper into her hapless life abroad or gaining a foothold on a real future for herself.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWelcome to Sunny Town\u003c\/i\u003e is a striking, at times darkly satirical novel that cracks open a popular rite of passage, critically examining teaching overseas and the worldwide ESL industry. Bringing to mind the work of Elif Batumen, or Ottessa Moshfegh, Armstrong's debut novel paints a deft portrait of twenty-somethings yearning for identity, connection, and freedom abroad during the turbulent years of the early aughts.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"None","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46800327377106,"sku":"9781997534112","price":24.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Kobo eBook","offer_id":46799446900946,"sku":"13be8b87-d344-3feb-8530-2cea2fd0bc14","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0655\/8980\/5233\/files\/image_4fe5df9b-c397-431e-9024-3c43a22038ef.jpg?v=1773099924","url":"https:\/\/www.indigo.ca\/products\/welcome-to-sunny-town-1","provider":"Indigo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}