Author: Mai Mochizuki (Author), Jesse Kirkwood (Translator).
Publication Information: Ballantine Books. 2024. 240 pages.
ISBN: 0593726820 / 978-0593726822
Rating: ★★★★
Book Source: I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.
Opening Sentence: "It was early April and my apartment windows were wide open."
Favorite Quote: "Even now, I still wonder what could have been if I'd been more honest with myself. I was determined to teach those kids never to shy away from being themselves."
A maneki-neko or beckoning cat can often be found displayed in Japanese households and shops. It is said to bring good luck. The earliest folklore related to this tradition dates from the 1600s. This and subsequent folktales tell of good fortune coming from following, befriending, or doing good for a cat. The good fortune follows the good deed.
This book carries that idea much further. Cats are the feature of a magical coffee shop. Individuals in need of direction find themselves invited to the cafe. In the process, they find lessons for their own life and the direction they seek. However, the invitation is extended to only a few select people. Why?
In this way, the book reminds me of another translation, What You are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. The main character in that book is a librarian who seems to place exactly the right book at exactly the right time in the hands of exactly the right person. The tale appears at the beginning as almost a set of short stories about unrelated people. Slowly, connections emerge, linking the dots into a whole. The book becomes lesson on growth, transformation, and inspiration. Each individual who is pointed to a story is transformed. For some, it leads them to new paths and gives them the courage to pursue them.
This book proceeds in a similar fashion. The cafe appears only to certain people, at a different time, and in a different place. This cafe has no menu. Drinks and snacks are specifically chosen for the individual. The ambiance of cafe seems tailored to the individual also. Some trigger memories. Other trigger longings. Each leaves the recipient changed. The cafe purveyors - the cats - use their knowledge of the individual and their study of astrological charts to provide insight that change the life of each person.
What adds further interest as a reader is discovering what connects these middle aged individuals - a scriptwriter, a TV producer, an actress, a hairdresser and a tech and security engineer. What determines who gets an invitation to the cafe? The connection goes back to their childhood and a kindness done.
This book requires the suspension of disbelief - magical cafes, astral charts, cats who speak and do other things. However, for the kind lessons it teaches, I willingly go along. In a world with much negativity, it is wonderful to see a reminder of the vast impacts a seemingly small act of kindness can have.
Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.
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