Charlotte, Lauren, Fumiko, Katherine and Sinéad: five friends who share a passion for reading. They have something else in common: They live in Tokyo.

The women plan to discuss Middlemarch at their next book club meeting, but five days before they are due to meet, Japan is hit by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in that earthquake prone country. In Tokyo, more than 200 miles from the epicentre, people cower in the streets as the ground shakes and skyscrapers sway above them. The tsunamis further North kill almost 20,000 people and damage or destroy over one million buildings.

None of the five friends lose their homes or their loved ones to the disaster, but the experience of that enormous quake and the near constant aftershocks causes each of them to question everything about their lives. 

They will never meet to discuss Middlemarch. In the months and years following the earthquake, their lives spin off in new directions as each woman explores ways to heal and find peace. 

This is their story.

Three Eleven is published by Europe Books