diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 1ea979e..b050377 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ use CharOrEof::{Char, Eof};
 mod unicode_utils;
 use crate::unicode_utils::{is_surrogate, decode_surrogate_pair, UnicodeError};
 
+mod strings;
+use crate::strings::JsonStringReader;
+
 #[derive(Clone)]
 enum TokenType {
     Operator = 0,
diff --git a/src/strings.rs b/src/strings.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ada8cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/strings.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/// Streamable strings support.
+///
+/// Adapted almost verbatim from json-stream's `strings.py` module.
+
+use compact_str::CompactString;
+use pyo3::exceptions::{PyIOError, PyValueError};
+use pyo3::prelude::*;
+use std::borrow::BorrowMut;
+use std::io::BufRead;
+
+const DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 8192; // TODO get from Python's io module somehow?
+
+enum State {
+    Char,
+    StringEscape,
+    Unicode,
+    UnicodeSurrogateStart,
+    UnicodeSurrogateStringEscape,
+    UnicodeSurrogate,
+}
+
+#[pyclass]
+pub struct JsonStringReader {
+    stream: Box<dyn SuitableStream + Send>,
+    buffer: String,
+    readline_buffer: String,
+    unicode_buffer: CompactString,
+    state: State,
+    end_of_string: bool,
+    index: usize,
+}
+
+#[pymethods]
+impl JsonStringReader {
+    pub fn complete(slf: PyRef<'_, Self>) -> bool {
+        Self::_complete(&slf)
+    }
+
+    pub fn read(mut slf: PyRefMut<'_, Self>, size: Option<usize>) -> PyResult<String> {
+        let mut result = String::new();
+        let mut length = DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE;
+        while !Self::_complete(&slf) && (size == None || result.is_empty()) {
+            if let Some(_size) = size {
+                length = _size - result.len()
+            }
+            // TODO performance will be trash here:
+            result.push_str(Self::read_chunk(slf.borrow_mut(), length)?.as_str())
+        }
+        return Ok(result);
+    }
+}
+
+impl JsonStringReader {
+    pub fn new(stream: Box<dyn BufRead + Send>, initial_buffer: String) -> JsonStringReader {
+        JsonStringReader {
+            stream,
+            buffer: initial_buffer,
+            readline_buffer: String::new(),
+            unicode_buffer: CompactString::with_capacity(4),
+            state: State::Char,
+            end_of_string: false,
+            index: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn _complete(slf: &Self) -> bool {
+        slf.end_of_string && slf.readline_buffer.is_empty()
+    }
+
+    pub fn read_chunk(slf: &mut Self, size: usize) -> PyResult<String> {
+        if !slf.readline_buffer.is_empty() {
+            let result = slf.readline_buffer[..size].to_string();
+            slf.readline_buffer = slf.readline_buffer[size..].to_string();
+            return Ok(result.to_string());
+        }
+        let chunk = if slf.buffer.len() > 0 {
+            slf.buffer
+        } else {
+            let newbuf = String::with_capacity(4*size);
+            slf.stream.read(&mut newbuf.as_bytes());
+            newbuf
+        };
+        if chunk.is_empty() {
+            return Err(PyValueError::new_err(format!("Unterminated string at end of file")));
+        }
+        let mut result = String::new();
+        let start = 0;
+        for (i, c) in chunk.chars().enumerate() {
+            slf.index += 1;
+            if i == size {
+                if let State::Char = slf.state {
+                    result.push_str(&chunk[start..i]);
+                }
+                slf.buffer = chunk[i..].to_string();
+                break
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(String::new())
+    }
+}