Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Description

The runaway international bestseller, TikTok literary phenomenon, and a global classic of modern Japanese fiction! From acclaimed playwright and author Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and beautifully translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, comes Before the Coffee Gets Cold—a breathtakingly beautiful, moving, and profoundly comforting novel. Exploring the timeless, bittersweet desire to reconnect with the past, this enchanting work of magical realism serves as a soothing balm for the soul and a reminder of the power of words left unsaid.

In a quiet, subterranean back alley in Tokyo, hidden away from the frantic pace of the modern city, there is a small, atmospheric café called Funiculi Funicula. For more than one hundred years, it has been serving carefully brewed, aromatic coffee to its loyal patrons. But this particular coffee shop offers its customers an utterly unique, mystical experience: the rare chance to travel back in time.

Throughout the novel, we are introduced to four heartbroken visitors, each of whom is hoping to make desperate use of the café’s legendary time-travelling offer. We follow a businesswoman trying to confront the lover who suddenly left her, a devoted nurse hoping to receive a hidden letter from her husband whose memory has been stolen by early-onset Alzheimer’s, a grieving woman yearning to see her estranged sister one last time, and a selfless mother risking everything to meet the daughter she never got the chance to know in her own lifetime.

But the magical journey into the past comes with an incredibly strict, unyielding set of rules that cannot be broken. To travel back, customers must sit in one specific, perennially occupied seat. They can never leave the physical confines of the café, the trip into the past will absolutely not change the reality of the present, and most importantly, they must drink and finish their entire cup before the coffee gets cold. If they fail, they are trapped in the seat as a ghost forever.

Masterfully executing the cozy Japanese healing fiction, magical realism, urban fantasy, and slice-of-life drama genres, Before the Coffee Gets Cold delivers an unputdownable, emotionally raw narrative. Packed with quiet moments of introspection, gentle wisdom, and beautiful character depth, this stunning Picador paperback edition is the ultimate comfort read and a mandatory addition to every book lover’s personal sanctuary.