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The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: An…
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The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: An unforgettable, moving novel of loss, love and hope, inspired by true events (original 2021; edition 2021)

by Laura Imai Messina (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3871965,203 (3.91)7
Well written and well constructed homage to the people lost in the Japanese tsunami of 2011, and more especially, to those left grieving.
Not an easy topic to write about, and not one I would have expected to enjoy reading, but the author has crafted something very special here. ( )
  mbmackay | Jul 5, 2021 |
English (16)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (18)
Showing 16 of 16
Based on a real phone box people visit to talk to their departed loved ones, this is a gentle story even though its subject is one of dealing with loss; of how to open oneself up to a future in which one can find the right balance to live a hopeful and love-filled existence, even though genuine grief’s a close companion through life. Snippets and minor details intersperse the chapters to the section just read, which lend the book a certain unique charm and style. Yes, the story lingers afterwards, although I its emotional aspect failed to move me. ( )
  SharonMariaBidwell | Mar 11, 2024 |
I was keen to read this novel after my cousin recommended it to me.

I found it to be a fairly easy read although I must admit it didn't really grab me. For me, there were too many small characters introduced that didn't really contribute to the overall narrative. Similarly I found too many small plot deviations or tangents that never really went anywhere and did not contribute to the story-line overall. It seemed there was a lot of "filler", and in some cases repetition. I feel that it's a book that would be enjoyed more by women than men.

The book was OK, being saved by a premise that was away from the norm. I wonder whether Japanese experience and concepts, written by an Italian living in Japan and then translated into English resulted in something being lost. ( )
  PhillipThomas | Dec 29, 2022 |
Beautifully written ( )
  gabbxoo | Dec 18, 2022 |
This book was beyond my expectations. It tells the sweet story of loss and ways in which people cope. The characters were extremely engaging, and although fictional, felt real especially since it is based around a real location. I also loved the formatting with brief in-between chapters on things like the items in a bento box made for lunch. It added a nice flow to the story. I highly recommend giving this one a read.
( )
  kayfeif | Jul 7, 2022 |
One Sentence Summary: When the tsunami on March 11, 2011 took her mother and young daughter, Yui struggles to move forward, until she hears of a disconnected phone booth people use to speak to those they have lost and meets Takeshi, a man with a young daughter who lost his wife.

In an attempt to get myself reading more Asian and Asian-inspired books, I requested this one from NetGalley, and was approved! I thought it might be interesting and was intrigued by the idea of people using a disconnected phone booth to talk to the people they had lost as a way of dealing with grief. I did not expect for this book to make me feel so deeply, to look at my children and treasure their lives any more than I already do, and find a place of hope and healing.

The Plot: Rooted in Grief

Yui lost her mother and daughter in the March 11, 2011 tsunami that struck part of Japan. Afterwards, she does little more than go through the motions of life, only coming alive when hosting her radio show. Until a man calls in and talks about the disconnected phone booth at Bell Gardia that offers a way for people to speak to their loved ones. There, the winds carry their messages to those that have been lost.

On her way from Tokyo to Bell Gardia, Yui encounters a man who has lost his wife and whose young daughter hasn't spoken since her mother died. Takeshi has decided to travel to the phone booth to speak with his wife, and they decide to go together.

Yui and Takeshi begin to travel to Bell Gardia together every month, forming a friendship that goes a long way to healing both of them.

I really enjoyed The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World, but it also felt like it was split between two different kinds of stories. The first half focused on Yui and Takeshi and their grief at losing their loved ones. It felt heavy and sad, but the blooming friendship between the two provided a sweet counterpoint and a flourish of hope. I loved that it introduced other minor characters, some who recur and some who are only mentioned in passing later in the story, but they all had grief and the phone booth in common. It highlighted the many ways people deal with grief and how the loss affects them. The second half, though, read more like a love story and I was disappointed the heavy grief themes were overridden by it. I couldn't help the feeling that the second half was trying to erase or mute the first half in favor of simply moving on. At the same time, it does highlight the need to move on, the hope of finding something good to love again, the joy that comes after the pain. I just wish the second half had felt more like a continuation and evolution of the first half instead of a turn around the corner.

This book was written in a really interesting way. Between each chapter was something of a little bite of life. There were mundane lists, an item on exhibit, a short conversation between characters. They were in some way related to the story and I loved how they helped bring the characters to life a little more, showcased how normal they were. At first they were a little weird, but I came to enjoy and appreciate them. They were good reminders that people actually lived through the many losses detailed throughout the first half of the book and that their lives aren't that different from our own.

The Characters: Polite and Restrained

As The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is set in Japan, all of the main characters are Japanese. They all had some measure of emotional restraint, which made it a little difficult to get to know them. They felt almost sleek and too polite and proper, but, reading deeper, there were bits and pieces almost like wisps that spoke to deeper emotions. The second half especially deep dived into Yui and a bit into Takeshi, but it also made them feel like they took a sudden turn as the first half focused more on their grief than really developing them. Then the second half hits and the reader really jumps into what they think and feel.

Most of the story is told from Yui's perspective, so it's her the reader gets to know the most. She's restrained, polite, quiet, but she thinks deeply and constantly. Often, her thoughts run away from her, but she seems almost incapable of voicing them, so prefers to find something to run off to. While she seemed kind of cold and distant during the first half, the reader gets to see a woman with deep worries and insecurities in the second half that really make the story roll.

The Setting: Japan

I loved The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World because it's set in Japan and so unapologetically drops the reader straight into the Japanese culture. No time is taken to introduced the reader to this Eastern culture, which is quite different from Western cultures. Being from an East Asian culture myself, it was almost comforting to find similarities, to find a book that I felt like I got and that got me.

On one hand, it might be a bit alienating to readers who don't understand Eastern cultures. It is absolutely a full immersion in the Japanese culture, not how various media sources portray it, but as how life actually operates. On the other, it almost felt like home. Close to home as I'm Chinese, but, still, it's rare when I read a book that just screams Asian and wraps me in a comforting blanket. I felt like I got it and was actually thankful the author didn't take time out of the story to fully orient the reader to the world.

Overall: Beautiful Despite Revolving Around Grief

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is not a light read. It deals very heavily and very deeply with grief. It really affected me as Yui loses her three-year-old daughter, and I couldn't help but look at my own three-year-old daughter and want to hug her closer. Her memory of the last time she saw her daughter really struck and stayed with me. Overall, this is a beautiful story. It's heartbreaking, it's sometimes hard to read, but it also speaks to moving forward while still remembering, of having hope and finding the drive to live again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own. ( )
  The_Lily_Cafe | May 29, 2022 |
I feel a bit guilty that I didn't enjoy this as much as I feel I ought to have.

The pivot of the story is the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the grief from the appalling loss of life is what does a lot of the heavy lifting. The author writes articulately and with poignancy and compassion in that regard. No problem there.

It's very well written with depth and empathy and unusually, the translation is extremely competent. It's a shame, however, that neither the translator nor the editor know the difference between 'less' and 'few'. Ah well, it was the only blip.

It's sad but heart-warming and really quite charming in some ways. Alas, I got a bit…bored with the two main characters, Yui and Takeshi, both of whom are mourning the deaths of their loved ones, who meet at the site of the disused phone box. I just couldn't drum up interest in the pair's journey to recovery or in the development of their relationship.

It wasn't a book I was in a rush to pick up and finish, but I'm not a DNF person. I was rather miffed to find a glossary at the end: all those Japanese words and phrases explained. It would have been much more useful to either have them at the beginning, or at least refer to their location at the start.

A different read. Just a bit so-so. ( )
  Librogirl | Mar 28, 2022 |
What an absolutely lovely novel! Based on the actual establishment of the Wind Phone (https://www.thisamericanlife.org/597/one-last-thing-before-i-go-2016), this is a love story, a disaster story, a loss story, a healing story, and a spiritual story. Two main characters, Yui and Takeshi, meet while seeking relief from their grief over losses which occurred due to the typhoon of March 11, 2011 in Japan. I love that it highlights the infinite number of ways people grieve and heal. Just beautiful! ( )
  hemlokgang | Dec 30, 2021 |
Magnificent! A story about immense grief, love and living, told in an astoundingly gentle voice. If you don't feel this book you've already passed over. Absolutely one of the best I've read in years. Ten stars. ( )
  SusanWallace | Jul 10, 2021 |
Well written and well constructed homage to the people lost in the Japanese tsunami of 2011, and more especially, to those left grieving.
Not an easy topic to write about, and not one I would have expected to enjoy reading, but the author has crafted something very special here. ( )
  mbmackay | Jul 5, 2021 |
adult fiction (grief, character-driven, set in Japan)
  reader1009 | Jul 3, 2021 |
It's quite predictable, you would expect Yui to end up with Takeshi and they did. Imai dwelt too much on Yui's uncertainties about her relationship with Takeshi, and her fear of becoming Hana's mother. Still, it is a heartwarming story of how three people recovered from grief - Yui, Takeshi, and his daughter Hana. There are others too, who go to the phone box for their respective purpose, to speak to their loved ones. ( )
  siok | Jul 3, 2021 |
I normally don't read "serious contemporary fiction", except when I'm in a book club, but I was struck by this book, read it, and thought that it was extraordinary. I found it deeply moving, and it struck me to the core as I contemplate my own losses, and the dilemmas of aging.

It is a simple, emotionally complex story of people who have lost those that they love, and coming to terms with their grief. Many of the people have lost family members in the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami, in which almost 20,000 people died, and more than another 2,500 went missing. The real Itaru Saski built Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, a garden open to the public. He installed a disconnected phone booth with a black rotary phone, which he used to comfort himself after the death of his cousin. After the tsunami, thousands of people came to use the Wind Phone, or simply walk in the gardens.

The novel follows several of these people. The main one is Yui Hagasawe who lost her mother and daughter in the tsunami, and meets and becomes friends with a widower, Takeshi Fujita at the garden. They meet with several other people who come to use the phone, and remain close to two teenage boys.

I was astounded to realize that it was 400 pages, because I read most of it in an evening. I hope that Itaru Sasaki's own book about the Phone of the Wind will be published in an English translation. ( )
  PuddinTame | Apr 22, 2021 |
Two grieving people find each other at a phone booth in Japan where people can phone their loved ones who have died. March 11, 2011 is the date of the tsunami that killed at least 15,897 people. Yui lost both her mother and her 3-year-old daughter. She hears of a phone booth where grieving people can send their words of love to those that have been lost. On her way to see this phonebooth she meets Takeshi. They continue to share the trip to the phone booth every year and as their friendship blossoms so does their love. Eventually marrying, they slowly turn from their losses to a happy future. Messina, an Italian who has lived in Tokyo for 15 years has really captured the feeling of sadness and hope. ( )
  brangwinn | Mar 9, 2021 |
The Wind Phone. It is such an important place to so many people. They come to grieve, rage, understand, and so much more. And it is the place where Yui's and Takeshi's stories intertwine and become something great and inspiring.

This story was such a sweet one to me. I was drawn in by the cover and kept reading by the wonderful heart warming story. The chapters each have a beautiful little decorative doodles that I looked forward to seeing as each new chapter approached. I also love how Messina included a donation link at the end and how she included more information at the end, as well.

Overall, it was a wonderful read with a great ending that leaves you feeling satisfied and happy. It brings up questions that make you think about things in different ways, as well. You will question life nd grieving and where our loved ones are after they pass away and whether they are truly gone. I would for sure recommend this book to others.

(I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book.) ( )
  marple21 | Dec 9, 2020 |
This is one of those "right book, right time" kind of reads, especially in these days of pandemic. It is a quietly contemplative, hopeful story of family, loss, grief, love and hope. At the heart of this story is a simple premise: that every person will find a place - be it real or somewhere deep within themselves - where they can tend to their emotional pain, loss, suffering and heal their wounds. This place can take on a different meaning and purpose for each person, but the end result is the same: the ability we all have to go from a place of darkness, pain and suffering to one of sunlight, healing and hope. Beautifully written, I love the idea of a Wind Phone to connect with our loved ones, when normal communication channels are not available, or not working. This book, for me anyways, really was a balm for my soul... soothing and nurturing with a calming, meditative pace. A place of solace in these crazy times.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Overlook Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )
  lkernagh | Nov 16, 2020 |
'When nobody is there to see the miracle, the miracle happens.'

Moving and uplifting, this is an emotional novel of loss and redemption, based around the true existence of the Wind Phone in Japan. Yui, who lost her mother and daughter in the 2011 tsunami, and Takeshi, who has lost his wife and is having to cope with his young daughter who has refused to speak ever since, are our two main characters who make the long journey from Tokyo to the isolated phone box together regularly. A whole host of other side characters, each of whom in their own way are dealing with the loss of a loved one, appear in the book, all looking for some peace in simply speaking to the dead.

The book is full of small moments of insight, and the relationship between Yui, Takeshi and his daughter, Hana, is beautifully handled. It is a quiet book, reflective and raw at times, but ultimately gives a space for loss and grief to be engaged with. A small gem of a book in dark times. ( )
  Alan.M | Jun 25, 2020 |
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