The Housekeeper and the Professor

by Yoko Ogawa
The Housekeeper and the Professor cover
Good Books rating 4.0
Literary Fiction
Technical:
  • ID: 418
  • Added: 2025-09-11
  • Updated: 2025-09-11
  • ISBN: 9780099521341
  • Publisher: Random House
  • Published: 2010-01-01
  • Formats: 7
  • Reviews: 3
Buy online
Waterstones
Paperback • £9.99

The Housekeeper and the Professor tells the story of a brilliant mathematician who, after a traumatic head injury, can only retain new memories for eighty minutes. Despite this challenge, his mind remains vibrant with elegant mathematical concepts, which he shares through clever riddles and equations inspired by everyday details like shoe sizes and birthdays. This unique connection draws the professor, the young housekeeper, and her ten-year-old son into a profound and poetic relationship. The novel explores themes of memory, human connection, and the comforting order of mathematics. The professor’s love for numbers creates a sheltering world where the three characters forge a mysterious affection that transcends the limits of memory. Their daily interactions reveal how mathematics can build family bonds and offer solace in the present moment, making this a quietly enchanting and deeply moving story about living with loss and finding beauty in unexpected places.

Reviews
The Bookbag · 2025-09-11
lovely 4.00

The review appreciates the gentle, domestic nature of the story and the poetic way mathematics is presented, making the characters and their connections feel deeply engaging.

The reviewer found the story lovely despite its slow pace and lack of dramatic action, becoming attached to the professor and the trio's lives. They emphasize how the professor’s passion for numbers makes math sound poetic and fascinating, exploring concepts like zero and perfect numbers in a way that almost invites the reader to share in the discovery. The narrative’s charm lies in the quiet moments and the emotional warmth that math and the characters’ interactions bring, which may inspire readers to appreciate mathematics anew.

Quick quotes

    He makes them sound interesting, poetic, almost giving them characteristics.

    I became very attached to the Professor through the book, and embroiled in the lives of these three characters.

    You almost feel the same sense of achievement as she does in solving some of the puzzles.

Goodreads · 2025-09-11
enchanting 4.00

The story is praised for its enchanting portrayal of living in the present and the unique way it uses mathematics to create a sense of family and connection despite memory loss.

This review highlights the novel's beautiful exploration of how relationships can form and thrive even with severe memory limitations. The professor's short-term memory loss challenges traditional notions of family and memory, but his love for mathematics and the bond with the housekeeper and her son create an emotionally rich narrative. The mathematical elements serve as a poetic and sheltering world, bringing the characters closer together and illustrating profound human connections beyond conventional memory.

Quick quotes

    The Housekeeper and the Professor is an enchanting story about what it means to live in the present.

    The numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son.

    The Professor is capable of discovering connections between the simplest of quantities and the universe at large.

stargazer-online.com · 2020-11-29
heartwarming 4.00

The book is celebrated for its heartwarming depiction of unusual friendships and the professor’s transformation through his passion for mathematics, which brings vitality despite his memory loss.

The reviewer was immediately drawn to the book due to its combination of Japanese fiction, existential themes, and love of math. They describe the professor as transforming from a frail old man to a passionate and engaging figure when discussing mathematics, which captivates both the housekeeper and her son. The bond formed is touching and built on understanding and acceptance of the professor’s condition, making the story both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant.

Quick quotes

    When talking about math he transforms from a small, shabby and frail elderly man to a passionate and engaging personality.

    Math and numbers are the foundation for the professor’s life and the subject in which he seeks comfort.

    The housekeeper’s 10-year old boy develops kind of a bond with the professor; a bond which relies on the boy’s ability to understand the professor’s condition.

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