Tales from the Cafe

The Tokyo cafe is still serving, the rules have not changed, and four new customers take the seat that allows a visit to another moment. Kawaguchi's second collection gives each visitor the same narrow window and the same warning that nothing about the past can be altered. The stories are short and the emotion understated, so the appeal lies in what people manage to say inside the limit, and in how the cafe's staff carry every visit. For the shelf: • The second title in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series • Four linked stories set in the same Tokyo cafe • Translated Japanese fiction written in plain, unhurried prose • A short book that suits reading in a single afternoon Recommended for readers of translated fiction and reflective contemporary stories, available in English at Boipoka.