Fear and Trembling is the most famous novel by the Belgian Amelie Nothomb. It was nominated for the Prix Goncourt, was awarded the French Academy Prize (Grand Prix for Best Novel, 1999) and has been translated into dozens of languages. The book is based on a real fact from the author’s biography: barely after graduating from university, Nothomb worked for a year in a large Tokyo company. Amelie was born in Japan, and now returns there as her long-awaited homeland to stay forever. But attempts to observe Japanese traditions and customs always lead to trouble and turn into cruel lessons. Nothomb makes the reader laugh, scares and surprises, and in the end turns the myth of Japan inside out, building a plot around a psychological duel between two young beautiful women.