The Phone Box at the Edge of the World
Laura Imai Messina
Translated by Lucy Rand
Hardback
Buy the book
25 June 2020Imprint: Manilla Press
Synopsis
'Absolutely breathtaking' Christy Lefteri, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
We all have something to tell those we have lost . . .
On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box. For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer with us.
When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find . . .
Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking...
The Phone Box at the Edge of the World is an unforgettable story of the depths of grief, the lightness of love and the human longing to keep the people who are no longer with us close to our hearts.
'A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief and the small miraculous moments that persuade people to start looking forward again' Sunday Times
'Strangely beautiful, uplifting and memorable, it's a book to savour' Choice, Book of the Month
'A poignant, atmospheric novel dealing with love, coming to terms with loss and the restoration of one's self' Daily Mail
'A story about the dogged survival of hope when all else is lost . . . A striking haiku of the human heart' The Times
'Beautiful. A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving' Clare Mackintosh, Sunday Times bestselling author of After the End
'Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars
'Mesmerising . . . beautiful . . . a joy to read' Joanna Glen, Costa shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope
'Spare and poetic, this beautiful book is both a small, quiet love story and a vast expansive meditation on grieving and loss' Heat
'A perfect poignant read' Woman & Home
We all have something to tell those we have lost . . .
On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box. For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer with us.
When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find . . .
Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking...
The Phone Box at the Edge of the World is an unforgettable story of the depths of grief, the lightness of love and the human longing to keep the people who are no longer with us close to our hearts.
'A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief and the small miraculous moments that persuade people to start looking forward again' Sunday Times
'Strangely beautiful, uplifting and memorable, it's a book to savour' Choice, Book of the Month
'A poignant, atmospheric novel dealing with love, coming to terms with loss and the restoration of one's self' Daily Mail
'A story about the dogged survival of hope when all else is lost . . . A striking haiku of the human heart' The Times
'Beautiful. A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving' Clare Mackintosh, Sunday Times bestselling author of After the End
'Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars
'Mesmerising . . . beautiful . . . a joy to read' Joanna Glen, Costa shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope
'Spare and poetic, this beautiful book is both a small, quiet love story and a vast expansive meditation on grieving and loss' Heat
'A perfect poignant read' Woman & Home
Details
25 June 2020
9781786580399Imprint: Manilla Press
Reviews
A story about the dogged survival of hope when all else is lost . . . Messina shows us that even in the face of a terrible tragedy, such as an earthquake or a loss of a child, the small things - a cup of tea, a proffered hand - can offer a way ahead. Its meditative minimalism makes it a striking haiku of the human heart
Carefully told and with great care, this feels a particularly resonating story right now
This beautiful novel tells a story of universal loss and the power of love. It will remain engraved in my heart and mind forever. During these difficult times we face, it addresses questions that we might all have - how to connect with those we have loved and lost and how to allow ourselves to live and to love again. Beautifully written, sensitive and evocative, it paints a picture of an inner and outer world that is infused with both tragedy and hope. It moved me to tears and made me want to speak my own secret thoughts in the phone box at the edge of the world. Absolutely breathtaking and stunning
A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving. Beautiful.
