This novel is currently published by Vintage, part of Random House, in Britain and has been translated into English by Stephen Snyder.

The Japanese film adaptation of Out, directed by Hirayama Hideyuki, was released in 2002 to generally tepid reviews.

Masako, the leader of the four women, feels completely alienated from her estranged husband and teenage son.

Yayoi is a thirty-four-year-old mother of two small boys who she is forced to leave home alone, where they are abused by their drunken, gambling father, Kenji.

Yayoi desperately persuades Masako, with the eventual aid of Yoshie and Kuniko, to help her dispose of Kenji's body.