Before We Forget Kindness
The most emotional book yet in the sensational Tokyo cafe series
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
The enchanting fifth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling series about a cosy cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.
Translated from Japanese, in Before We Forget Kindness four new guests enter the mysterious Tokyo café, each with a secret wish, each hoping to go back in time to fulfil it as their coffee is poured . . .
- The father who could not allow his daughter to get married
- A woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one
- A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents
- A wife holding a child with no name . . .
The incomparable Toshikazu Kawaguchi introduces us to the dreams, wishes and deeply emotional encounters of these four guests, all travelling back in time to find comfort, peace, and a newfound happiness.
But, as ever, they must return before the coffee gets cold . . .
Catch up on the rest of the series with Before the coffee gets cold, Tales from the cafe, Before your memory fades and Before we say goodbye.
**Before I knew I loved you, the sixth book in the series, is available to pre-order now!**
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heartwarming Before the Coffee Gets Cold series is something of a misnomer: these page-turning tales of poignant time travel are so absorbing that we frequently find ourselves reaching for a lukewarm cup. Before We Forget Kindness, the fifth title to be translated from the original Japanese, relates four more vignettes of life designed to stir delicate emotions—a young boy who wishes he had smiled at Disneyland instead of crying, or a woman who let her fear of rejection get the better of her. The time-travelling conceit—that visitors to the past must return to the present before their coffee gets cold—allows for cutting straight to the emotional core of the characters and their motivations, leaving just enough time to colour in the background details that illustrate the bigger picture. When the emotional resonance is so high, it doesn’t matter that the moments are brief.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The gentle but poignant fifth light fantasy in Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold series (after Before We Say Goodbye) returns to Tokyo's Café Funiculi Funicula. Run by the Tokita family, this otherwise unassuming café has one major draw: any customer who sits in one particular seat can travel in time, as long as they return before their cup of coffee gets cold. Each series installment comprises stories following different customers and the people with whom they hope to have one last conversation. This time around, readers meet a young boy trying to come to terms with his parents' divorce ("The Son"); a new mother whose husband was killed before he could meet and name their infant daughter ("The Nameless Child"); a woman who eloped without her father's blessing and now needs his forgiveness ("The Father"); and two best friends driven apart by painful romantic secrets ("The Valentine"). The focus on regret and grief makes this a heart-wrenching outing, but kindness and empathy still shine through in Kawaguchi's characters. Readers will find comfort even as they reach for the tissues.
