This is absolutely adorable, like putting on a cosy pair of slippers. Perfect for the current autumnal weather

Sometimes the power and emotion of a novel creeps up on you so unexpectedly that it leaves you so deeply moved that the impact is not only incredibly profound but has actually given you a different perspective on life

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World was a beautiful read so this new novel by Laura Imai-Messina had big footsteps to follow in.

This is a story of love and friendship - a bond that is made following tragedy and sadness. Shuichi, a story book creator / illustrator has the task of emptying his mother’s home following her death; but discovers that each afternoon an eight year boy called Kenta is entering a side passageway to the house and taking items. Intrigued, Shuichi soon establishes a friendship with the boy.

What follows is the story of these two different individuals but also deep connection that pulls them closer as both try to make sense of the world around them. This is a story about the beauty and power within the innocence of being a child. It is also a story about that most powerful of things - if not the most - the human heartbeat. On the island of Teshima is a library where heartbeats are captured and stored either from visitors or sent from people around the world

This is a book that could so easily have veered towards sentimentality but not at all. As with many Japanese based tales there is a sense of melancholy and the first half of the book has an underlying sense of sadness. But as the story progresses a powerful and deep tenderness emerges ; the aforementioned library brings the story to its denouement with unexpected results.

Truly beautiful- let yourself escape , breathe and immerse yourself and your heart into this wonderful book.

A beautiful story about intergenerational friendships and lessons about life, safety and love The translation was done beautifully I appreciated the notes on the Japanese scripts and words.

This was a beautiful book which stayed with me days after I had finished it. Heartwarming and full of love.

This novels is all about an archive in Japan where people travel to record their heartbeats. In this small building the heartbeats of those both alive and dead continue to echo.

The book centres around the relationship between Shuichi, a 40 year old illustrator of children’s books, whose mother has recently died and who has returned to his family home to fix up her house and Kenya, a 8 year old boy. He shadows Shuichi and gradually trust is built up between the two and they find that they share a bond which will tie them together.

Eventually they travel together to record their heartbeats and Shuichi finds peace.

A book I will be recommending.