Goodreads Synopsis
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
My Review
Have you ever picked up a book without knowing the synopsis? That’s how I landed upon “Before the coffee gets cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Lately, I have had an affinity towards Japanese literature, and this book would join the troop.
The story is set in a café in Japan, I must say this isn’t a run-of-the-mill one. The story possesses the enchanting allure of urban legends, where the visitors can journey back in time. As the story progresses, I find myself unexpectedly moved by the end; Kawaguchi gracefully intertwines magical realism and the delicate nuances of human relationships.
Despite being a simple premise, the story resonates deeply and touches the heartstrings of readers. We feel each character is real and I couldn’t help but connect with their journey.
The narrative unfurls at a brisk pace, with occasional twists and turns putting the readers on the edge of their seats. Kawaguchi has succeeded in portraying an enchanting tale that perfectly blends with the beauty of human connection.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. And there are three more books in this series, each set in the backdrop of the same café. I will be picking up each one soon.
