The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: The unforgettable, Japanese-set international bestseller by Laura Imai Messina

Product Description

A sweeping, moving novel that is becoming an international sensation - based on an incredible true story 

When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she wonders how she will ever carry on. Yet, in the face of this unthinkable loss, life must somehow continue.

Then one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone box in his garden. There, those who have lost loved ones find the strength to speak to them and begin to come to terms with their grief. As news of the phone box spreads, people travel to it from miles around.

Soon Yui makes her own pilgrimage to the phone box, too. But once there she cannot bring herself to speak into the receiver. Then she finds 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.

When you've lost everything, what can you find . . ?

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World is a moving, unforgettable story inspired by true events, about 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.

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, The Times

Carefully told and with great care, this feels a particularly resonating story right now, Stylist

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, Christy Lefteri

A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving. Beautiful., Clare Mackintosh

Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul, Stacey Halls

Spare and poetic, this beautiful book is both a small, quiet love story and a vast, expansive meditation on grieving and loss, Heat

Before I got started, I already loved the phone box at the edge of the world. But then I loved everything else. Especially the beautiful prose, powerful but held back, like grief. And the characters - emerging blinking from their tragedies, hurt and hesitant - but ultimately hopeful. It was a joy to read. Mesmerising!, Joanna Glen, author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope

This is a beautiful book. And a timely one. It tells a story about the aftermath of a disaster, long after the disaster. It tells of memories of the first few weeks after horror struck, but more it tells about the years after. If we're not directly affected, we lose sight of the years after that others have to endure. Or survive, Bookbag

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World has such a subtle strength to it. The power to transfer such huge emotion from the page to my heart. It felt like a balm to my soul, one I did not know I needed. For me it is easily one of my books of the year, Waterstones bookseller

Immensely moving and emotionally powerful . . . possessed of a rare empathetic pull, Waterstones bookseller 

Product Details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Manilla Press; 1st edition (4 Mar. 2021)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1786580411

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1786580412

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm

Customer reviews: 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars    2,535 ratings

About the Author

Laura Imai Messina has been living in Japan for the last 15 years and works between Tokyo and Kamakura, where she lives with her Japanese husband and two children. She took a Masters in Literature at the International Christian University of Tokyo and a PhD in Comparative Literature at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. The Phone Box at the Edge of the World has been sold in over 21 territories.

Lucy Rand is a teacher, editor and translator from Norfolk, UK. She has been living in the countryside of Oita in south-west Japan for three years.