Asa Nonami is the V.C. Andrews of Japanese fiction. A prolific writer of her own brand of sometimes gothic suspense, she is most notable for strong women characters in a mystery genre frequently predominated by men.
Nonami was born in 1960 in Tokyo and attended Waseda University to study Sociology before dropping out and getting a job at an advertising agency. In 1988 she made her fiction writing debut with Happy Breakfast and won the Japan Mystery Suspense Award. In 1996, Nonami won the 115th Naoki Prize for The Hunter. Among her other notable works are The June 19th Bride, Paradise Thirty, Dramatic Children, and Muderer of the Blooming Season.
Her first work to be translated in English, The Hunter, received widespread acclaim in the U.S. in 2006. Nonami's second novel, Now You're One of Us, was released in December 2007 by Vertical.
