JOIN / SIGN IN

Welcome to Foyalty

Earn a Foyalty Stamp for every £10 you spend in our shops or online*

Every 10 Foyalty Stamps you earn adds £10 to your Foyalty Balance

Spend your Foyalty Balance in our shops or online, with no minimum redemption*

*Exclusions apply, see full T&Cs for details.

Learn More

When the Museum is Closed

Emi Yagi (author), Yuki Tejima (translator)

Paperback Published on: 10/07/2025; Language: English, Japanese (Original language of a translated text)

£14.99

17 reviews

Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £3.99

In stock
Usually dispatched within 1-2 days

Make and edit your lists in your account

No stock available in any shop.

In stock
Usually dispatched within 1-2 days

No stock available in any shop.

View other formats and editions

Bookseller Reviews

View all

The goddess of love

Emi Yagi is a master of the short, sweet and bizarre. I loved Diary of a Void and When the Museum is Closed is a great addition to that magical realism and... READ MORE

Lauren at Birmingham

The perfect blend of abstract and uplifting

When the Museum is Closed has a really original and interesting premise (which is what attracted me to the book) that is executed beautifully. While the wr... READ MORE

Christina at Inverness

Beautiful and Whimsical

A gorgeously written queer tale that brings the reader on a quirky journey involving a girl and a statue of Venus. Such an original plot and a greatly enjo... READ MORE

Davina Marudamuthu

Captivating and quirky tale of art and love

Rika is engaged to speak Latin to a statue of Venus when the museum is closed. It is a tribute to Emi Yagi's writing that I didn't even blink just plunged ... READ MORE

Sally, Richmond

A strange and joyful delight!

This is a difficult book to describe but an easy one to recommend. While the plot ostensibly deals with a woman who falls in love with a statue (as a regul... READ MORE

Sam E

Quirky

'Where words end, there is only despair.' Rika is employed to speak Latin to a statue of Venus. They converse, and over time fall in love. Yes, welcome ... READ MORE

Alan M

configDetails.options.our_view_title_text

A surreal and lyrical sapphic love story from the author of Diary of a Void. Rika works in a frozen food warehouse, but when she's offered an extra part-time job using her Latin skills to talk to a statue of Venus, her life is given new meaning. A gorgeous, passionate slice of Japanese magical realism that is beautifully translated by Yuki Tejima.

Top Ten Reads for July

Synopsis

Rika Horiuchi’s new part-time job is to converse with a statue of the Venus de Milo – in Latin – every Monday, when the museum is closed.

Initially reluctant, Rika starts to enjoy her strange new job: she and Venus talk about everything. They fall in love, and (with the help of a statue of Artemis’ hunting dog) eventually break free.

This fresh and original new novel from the author of Diary of a Void confirms Emi Yagi as one of the most exciting Japanese writers published in English today.

Publisher information

Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781787304642
Number of pages: 160
Dimensions: 215 x 136 x 12 mm
Weight: 175g
Languages: English, Japanese (Original language of a translated text)

Customer Reviews

View all

Whimsical fantasy

When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi (translated by Yuki Tejima) is a short, surreal novella—just around 160 pages—that blends whimsical fantasy with poig... READ MORE

Nemra

A delightful tale of one girl’s challenges in living a modern life

I’m not sure I’m clever enough to fully decipher this interesting short novel. Perhaps I can comfort myself by saying that maybe … maybe no one can as that... READ MORE

Tierney Moore

Easy Read

A bit of a strange one. Falling in love with a statue who are you are paid to converse with in Latin isn’t just part of any normal day in the office. Wh... READ MORE

Sophie Peacock

Surreal

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an e-arc of this title. Translated from Japanese, this quirky and surreal story follows Rika - ... READ MORE

MFLM

Quirky novella

I do love Japanese fiction and I happily read this book based on the recommendation of fans of "What you are looking in the library for". It's a short book... READ MORE

Mel Pretorius

Charmingly Odd

‘When the Museum is Closed’ is a refreshing addition to the Japanese magical realism genre that sees the main character Rika learn about self-respect and s... READ MORE

Megan Carr

Surreal

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an e-arc of this title. Translated from Japanese, this quirky and surreal story follows Rika - a so... READ MORE

Fay Myers

Different readers will take away different things from this delightful tale of one girl’s challenges in living a modern life

I’m not sure I’m clever enough to fully decipher this interesting short novel. Perhaps I can comfort myself by saying that maybe … maybe no one can as that... READ MORE

Tierney Moore

Four stars!

Rika Horiuchi’s unusual new part-time job is to visit a closed museum every Monday and speak – in Latin – with the statue of the Venus de Milo. At first... READ MORE

The Secret Book Review

A vibe

This was.....unusual. I'll admit I hadn't read Emi Yagi before and was drawn in by the description. Suffice to say that the main character, Rika, falling i... READ MORE

Lesley Dickson

Surreal but great!

“For her the language appeared to be more than an academic subject. She spoke with the passion of a minority group that had been prohibited from speaking t... READ MORE

cosylittlereadingcorner

When the Museum is Closed

Bookseller Reviews

Synopsis

Publisher information

Customer Reviews

You may also like...