About the Book
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a novel written by Japanese playwrite-turned-novelist Toshikazu Kawaguchi and translated to English by Geoffrey Trousselot, was first published in Japan in 2015 and has since been translated to 35 different languages and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. In 2017, the book was nominated for the Bookstore Awards and had a movie adaptation released in Japan in 2018. In 2019, the English translation was released and the series gained traction and popularity in the West. The 4th installment of the series, Before We Say Goodbye, is going to be released in the US November 14th, 2023, just in time for the holidays.
The series is set in a small, cozy cafe in Japan, Café Funiculi Funicula, tucked into a small alleyway in Tokyo. The premise is that there is a table in the cafe that is usually occupied by the ghost of a woman. The woman doesn't move much, but when she does, customers can take her spot and travel back in time within the physical limits of the cafe and they have to finish the magical cup of coffee before it gets cold (hence the name). The series deals with grief, regret and death, issues which the patrons are trying to work through via time travel. Before We Say Goodbye will be no different, with four new stories to add to the collection; one dealing with a proposal a woman couldn't answer, a strained relationship between father and daughter, loss of a pet, and a husband's message.
About the Author
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| Picture Credit: https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/culture/2023/02/12/039before-the-coffee-gets-old039-novelist-says-there-is-hope-in-every-cuppa |
Mr. Kawaguchi of Osaka, Japan started off his career as a theater director and playwright. In fact, Before the Coffee Gets Cold started off as an award-winning play. During one performance, the woman who would end up being Kawagachi's editor at Sunmark Publishing was so moved by the story that she urged him to turn it into a novel.
Since then Kawaguchi has traveled around the world to talk about his story and the stories that he writes. He has mentioned drawing inspiration from his own life, with the death of his father, as well as the lives of ordinary people. It is his goal that his audience might be able to heal the parts of themselves that hold onto grief and regret through his characters' experiences and proceed into the future with hope. In an interview with The Star, he quotes:
“even if you cannot change the present if you are to travel to the past or the future, you can still change someone’s heart and overcome any obstacles.”
References:
Agency. (2023, February 12). “before the coffee gets old” novelist says there is hope in every cuppa. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/culture/2023/02/12/039before-the-coffee-gets-old039-novelist-says-there-is-hope-in-every-cuppa
Before the coffee gets cold. Before the Coffee Gets Cold | Sunmark Publishing,Inc. (n.d.). https://www.sunmark.co.jp/eng/book/fiction02/
Before we say goodbye. HarperCollins. (n.d.). https://www.harpercollins.com/products/before-we-say-goodbye-toshikazu-kawaguchi?variant=41072867803170
Chowdhury, S. (2023, June 9). Exploring nostalgia over coffee. The Daily Star. https://www.thedailystar.net/daily-star-books/news/exploring-nostalgia-over-coffee-3341831
