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.

This was an absolutely beautiful novel. I was in Northern Japan when the earthquake and tsunami struck, so I was afraid this might be too hard for me to read, but it wasn’t. I’d heard about the phone booth before this book, heard stories of people who had lost loved ones on March 11 would go there and talk to them on the phone as a way to try to find closure. The story follows Yui, a woman who lost her mother and young daughter in the tsunami. As a survivor, she feels an immense amount of guilt and replays that day in her mind. Yui moves to Tokyo to get away, escape from her memories, but when she hears about the phone she takes a trip back to see it. Her reaction upon seeing the ocean again for the first time—the ocean that she had loved, had grown up with, but had turned on her and taken the only people she loved in the world, was heartbreaking.

Yui’s trips to the phone become a regular thing, and she meets some friends along the way. But she continues to struggle with forgiving herself for surviving. If you’ve lost someone close to you, you will easily understand Yui and her actions and why she acts the way she does.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an Arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Title: The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World
Author: Laura Imai Messina
Publisher: Abrams - The Overlook Press
Publication date: March 9, 2021
Genre: Fiction
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.

Simply Beautiful.
This book was very well written and illustrated, showing hope and happiness can come in the midst of any loss and disaster.

Author’s English language debut
In March 2011 a tsunami generated by a 9.0 earthquake in the Pacific created a 33’ high wave which inundated the coast and flooded parts of the city of Sendai, Japan. Additional waves went as far as 6 miles inland. 19,300 lives were lost. This novel is based on a true story about an unconnected phone that people would visit to talk to those loved ones they’d lost in both the tsunami and in other ways. An international bestselling novel, I cannot recommend it enough.
An amazingly beautiful story that gently through wonderful language, deals with the grief the characters feel. Yui loses her mother and her 3 yr old daughter in the tsunami. Takeshi is a grieving husband of a little girl who has not spoken since her mother died of cancer. The two meet by accident at the old disused – or “wind” phone in an old man’s garden. They meet other grieving people and they become friends with the old man.

A meditation on grief told in short vignettes. Sweet and sad but the premise encapsulates the entire plot.

This is a lovely story based on healing after a significant loss. I think most of us remember the devastating tsunami in Japan in 2011 where so many lives were lost. People find many ways to process their grief, but one man placed an old disconnected phone booth in his garden so people could connect with their loved ones. After the tsunami, people from all over came to use the phone booth so that their words could be carried on the wind and they could unburden their hearts, even symbolically. The phone booth brings our two main characters together where a beautiful relationship is formed through their mutual grief. This is a story of heartbreak and hope and leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

This was such a beautiful book. I don't think we do a very good job with grief in America and it was refreshing to see it from a culturally different perspective (Japanese) where it is accepted as a part of life. If you have grieved the loss of anyone or know someone who is I highly recommend this book as it not only normalizes that grief never ends but also shows that life can continue on anyway.

Slight, poetic, affecting, this meditation on loss, grief and survival is a touching work. Does it quite add up to a novel? Possibly not. Its interleaved chapters can seem trivial, too whimsical, a kind of padding to extend what is perhaps a short story into something longer, cuter. But the core of the book is touching and delicately observed. A curiosity, but a memorable one.

Favorite books of mine include The Book of Dreams and The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan, and Everything Love Is by Claire King. One quality that these novels have in common is a deeper emotional resonance than is found in much fiction. To this list of my own treasured favorites, I am adding The Phone Booth at the End of the World. It is a unique and uniquely moving read.

The tsunami that swept Japan over a decade ago left much destruction in its wake. There was loss of property, community and the lives of those that many loved. Yui, the protagonist of this novel, lost her mother and daughter. She continues her work at a radio station but is broken inside.

Yui hears of a phone booth at a remote location in Japan. It is not connected but has become a kind of shrine. People go there to speak into the phone with the loved ones that they have lost. On her first trip to this pilgrimage site, Yui meets Takeshi. His wife died in the tsunami, leaving him with a beloved daughter who has been mute ever since. Yui and Takeshi become companions who visit the phone booth each month. They come to know each other well and to share in life, loss and healing. There are other characters who also have faced this incomprehensible loss, as for example, a high school student. They also take their places in the book.

This novel has a gorgeous design. Each chapter has a line drawing at its start. The reader might see birds in flight, an old fashioned telephone or a book for example. Short chapters alternate with even shorter chapters. The very short chapters are lists. A reader might learn what Yui’s favorite Bossa Nova music is or what her daughter was wearing on the day of the storm or what gifts Yui had bought for her but had not, as yet, given to her. These chapters add to the poignancy of the story.

I highly recommend this novel. It will engage you, make you think and, perhaps, inspire you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

It is important to understand the context of this book: The 2011 Touhoku Earthquake either directly or indirectly was responsible for the death of almost 20,000 people. For people outside of Japan, it's so easy to think of it as 'just another tragedy.' In fact, I probably haven't had a second thought about it since 2011.

So reading this book, really THINKING about how a tragedy of such magnitude affects the lives of so many, made this an important book for me. This book will be released in English near the 10th anniversary of the date- the recent history of it is a reminder of the grief and mourning that continues for those who lost loved ones 10 years ago.

This is a book not just about grief, but about finding peace within that grief. Like any other book, it's not for everyone. There is a lot to learn and think about though, and the story-telling was presented in a way that was heartwarming and healing.

I really enjoyed this book and was immediately interested in knowing more about the real 'wind phone' that the story is based off of. There was a lovely afterward at the end of this story that I recommend as well.
Thank you Netgalley and The Overlook Press for an advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. This book will stick with me for a long time, and as sad as the content is, I intend to revisit this book in years to come.

Free Netgalley book for review ~

Very readable and I enjoyed it even though this type of story is not usually my thing. I did skim over the more detailed passages in the book involving the grim aftermath of the flood.

I am glad the little family found each other, although I the end was a bit weird in that regard. (No spoilers here, you’ll have to find out for yourself what I mean.).

Endangering her own life was not a brilliant thing to do, and the book covers the reasons why—but here I will say this was one of the least comprehensible things Yui ends up doing in this book. I almost rated this a 3 star read because of that and the death descriptions and the strange marriage thing. 3.5 maybe?

Ultimately though I think the book has some important things to say and looks at grief and hope from a different perspective, although I found it curious nobody even remotely finds religion as a way to help cope. I liked the characters though.

Oh my goodness but this was a lovely, moving, beautiful homage to love, life and death - and the magical ability of belief... Messina did an incredible job capturing the horrors of loss and the debilitating nature of grief without ever devolving into maudlin sentimentality. Her characterizations, her plotting, and her pacing were spot on - as were the ways she captured the complex relationships between her characters and settings. I was truly moved.

My Thoughts
This book is a little different from what I typically read, but the topic intrigued me and that cover is so beautifully simple that I had to read it. Here are my pros and cons for The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World:

Pros
1. I can’t even imagine how the people in Japan coped with such an instant and large loss of life from this tsunami, so when I selected this book I expected it to be absolutely gut-wrenching and sad… and it was. But it was ultimately more hopeful, joyful, and heartwarming than sad. Yes, there are moments that will crush you (I did get quite emotional at one point), but there are more moments that will give you peace.

2. The book is written in a very unique way. Each chapter basically describes an event or a memory of the lead character (Yui) and it was followed by an extremely short chapter that further defined a random detail from the previous chapter. For example, Yui may think about a picture frame in the main chapter and the short following chapter will give details about the receipt for the frame and that is it. Or Yui may be thinking about a book she gave to someone and the following short chapter will give the full title and author of the book and nothing else. Sometimes these interlude chapters were just a few words. Sometimes they were a bit longer, but never really more than a page. Initially, these little interlude chapters seemed very strange to me and not necessarily useful to the story. However, the more I thought about it and the more I read, I started to realize that these ordinary things, these boring every day things like a receipt for a frame or the title of a book, are sometimes the things that can keep us sane while we are in the very depths of pain and grief. Ordinary can become extraordinary and memories, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, can be the things that keep you grounded. As I continued to read, I came to appreciate these odd mini-chapters very much.

3. I absolutely love knowing that this phone booth really exists.

4. I think this book might help someone who is experiencing their own grief.

5. There are a lot of platitudes in this book, and things like that typically bother me; however, in this book they didn’t feel cliché at all. They felt sincere and comforting.

6. The story is full of beautiful sentences and thoughtful phrases that will make you pause and reflect. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I reread sentences and paragraphs because they were so beautifully written or profound.

7. I appreciated that one of the characters turned to the Bible as a source of comfort.

Cons
1. I mentioned earlier that this book was written in an incredibly unique way. Besides the mini-chapters, which I came to appreciate, the book is actually written in a very disconnected manner. There is a central story, but you must read the entire book to really appreciate it. While I was reading, I was constantly wondering what was going on. And therein lies the rub. There is nothing really “going on”. There is no action and it isn’t heavy on dialogue. It lacked cohesiveness and timelines were random. You are simply inside someone’s head experiencing vignettes of their thoughts, feelings, their day-to-day life, and how they are coping with their grief. This writing style isn’t inherently bad, but I have this in Cons because the disconnectedness was odd, sometimes confusing, and I just couldn’t help feeling like the book needed a bit more focus. [It has crossed my mind, however, that the randomness and disconnected writing was purposeful, because don’t we all feel a bit disconnected and random when experiencing grief?]

Summary
This book is very different from most books I read. It is cerebral. It is sad. It is hard to read at times (because of writing style and theme). But I think it is also a book that many people would appreciate if they give it a chance and stick with it.

This book really made me think about grief and how everyone experiences it and handles it differently. There is no right or wrong. Whether it is to remember and appreciate the little things from the past and/or the present, or whether it is using a disconnected phone booth to speak to your deceased love ones, your grief is unique and how you cope is very personal. And asking for help from others is always okay.

Ultimately, what I loved most about this book is that is was more about hope than loss.

Thank you NetGalley and Abrams/The Outlook Press for providing an ebook, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

#thephoneboothattheedgeoftheworld #netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of "The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World" by Laura Imai Messina which is a fictional tale based on the real Wind phone in Japan.
" ... life decays, countless cracks form over time. But it was those very cracks, the fragility that determined a person's story: that made them want to keep going, to find what happens next" . To me this is the heart of the story. We meet Yui who loses both her mother and daughter in the 2001 tsunami that struck Japan. It explores the universal feeling of loss and the heart-rending grief that follows a loss. However , it also explores how different people handle that grief and how they choose to go forward , or not, in their continued existence. It is a story in the most part of great hope, resilience and love . We meet many people in the book who choose to visit the wind phone as a way to cope with their loss. People visit the beautiful gardens by the sea and enter a phone booth where they use a phone to send their words, their sorrow, their hopes in to the universe and to their loved ones. The writing is poetic almost to the point of meditative. The characters are memorable. The story is beautiful. It resonated with me on several levels but I do not think that you have to personally experience loss to sense its beauty.
I love that the writer states" that even when we are confronted by the subtractions, the things that life takes from us, we have to open ourselves up to the many additions it can offer too" This is so true yet so difficult at times to do in our lives. I love how even if you have a before and an after, there are things that may happen in both time frames . Those experiences are different yet similar but you can enjoy equally the richness of each experience in their time. I believe this tender novel / love story can be enjoyed by many and would make a wonderful addition to the "Book Club Shelf. There are many situations and even characters in the book that would instigate a discussion.
I enjoyed learning more about Japan and Japanese culture. I appreciated the appendix at the back of book to identify and explain the Japanese words and holidays in the book. I also appreciated that the author included in the afterword, a website for those readers who were interested in the real BelGardia and who wished to learn more about it.

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina is an advance reader copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is such a beautiful book. I loved the style of writing, it felt like great poetry. The main character Yui is dealing with the death of her mother and daughter after the tsunami. She hosts a radio show for others dealing with loss and is told about a phone booth that has helped a man deal with the loss of his wife. It was a beautifully written story and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC & The Overlook Press. In the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami that followed a 9.0 earthquake, 20,000 lives were lost, and an untold number of families were devastated by the loss, a loss that continues to haunt these families. Yui, a young woman, is one who lost loved ones, family. Her daughter and her mother, both. Her sorrow is palpable, but is shared by the many people who call in to share their stories at the radio station where she works. This is beautifully written with well developed characters. The telling of overcoming tragic situations and how growth is in the pages of this awesome read.

The cover is so peaceful and inviting. The concept focuses on recuperating from loss for the survivors of the tsunami in that hit Japan. The two main characters lost loved ones and meet near a sacrosanct area. A phone booth exists where people can call their loved ones, or imagine they are. . It's actually based on a real location, according to the author,s note. What a lovely concept. I liked how the story developed and how each character sought healing and the ability to move on. We can't ever go back, but that doesn't mean we have to leave those that are gone behind. The book almost has an ethereal tone to it.

In everyone's life there is an event that marks the passage of time. When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, everything is relative to March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami tore Japan apart. She struggles to continue on with life, days spent alone with her grief and pain.

One day, Yui hears about a man who has an old telephone booth in his garden where people find the strength and make the trip to speak to lost loved ones. Yui makes her own pilgrimage to the phone booth too but once there, she cannot seem to speak into the receiver. Instead she meets the acquaintance of Takeshi, a widower whose daughter has stopped speaking since her mother's death. Together they begin to heal.

Lost in translation, maybe? The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is an international bestseller sold in 21 countries. People all over have experienced grief, mourning and survival. It is also inspired by a real phone booth in Japan that has been a place of solace since the 2011 tsunami.

The premise is great but unfortunately that's where it ends. So why couldn't I get into it? Well, there is no plot. The short chapters only made the story easier to put down. I expected more beautiful writing and a connection to the characters visiting the fictional version of Japan's Wind Phone. Yet it fell flat.

Happy Early Pub Day, Laura Imai Messina! The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World will be available Tuesday, March 9.

LiteraryMarie

This was a beautiful read, and I love the fact that the phone booth in the title exists in the real world. I think many readers will appreciate the characters' unique paths to healing from the losses in their lives. I personally enjoyed the smattering of Japanese phrases throughout because I lived in Japan for several years; however, I did wonder whether some of the references would be confusing to those with less intimate knowledge of Japanese language and culture. In any case, this will definitely be a book to recommend to customers at the book store where I work.