Tales from the Cafe - (Before the Coffee Gets Cold) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Originally published in Japan as Kono uso ga barenai uchi ni by Sunmark Publishing, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, in 2017."--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

From the author of the international bestseller Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this book follows four new customers who hope to travel back in time in a little Japanese café.

In a back alley in Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee--the chance to travel back in time.

With faces both familiar and new, Tales from the Cafe follows the story of four patrons who visit to take advantage of café Funiculi Funicula's time-traveling offer and revisit moments with family, friends and lovers. Each one must face up to the past to move on with their lives.

Kawaguchi's wistful and heartwarming new novel once again invites the reader to ask themselves, "What would you do if you could travel back in time?"

Review Quotes

"Characters come to the crisp realization that joy is allowed, that they don't have to live burdened by regret; they are set free by a shift in perspective. The effect on the characters is like what the best talk therapy claims is possible: to reprocess past events to see them differently.... It's easy to be cynical, though, and far rarer to encounter narratives that end with earnest tears of joy." --New York Times

"Kawaguchi has found a unique way to manipulate such a commonly used trope as time travel and has captured the power of joy as a legacy." --Library Journal

"The book's resonating charm provides lasting emotional balm." --Booklist