Before the Coffee Gets Cold: The cosy million-copy sensation from Japan

· Before the Coffee Gets Cold Book 1 · Pan Macmillan
4.4
112 reviews
Ebook
224
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About this ebook

The million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heart-warming Before the Coffee Gets Cold, translated from Japanese, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?


In a cosy back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

Prepare to meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the cafe’s time-travelling offer in order to:
- confront the man who left them
- receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by Alzheimer's
- see their sister one last time, and
- meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the cafe, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

‘This book broke my heart, took the pieces, and put them back together in a messy and beautiful way. . . '
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Continue the beautifully moving storytelling with Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye and Before We Forget Kindness.

Ratings and reviews

4.4
112 reviews
Alice White
November 10, 2024
I bought this book after reading some reviews, and I have to admit that I found it underwhelming. The plotline develops quite quickly, but I found it to be quite tedious and predictable in parts. As for the characters, I found them to be quite one-dimensional at times, and it was quite difficult to engage with them and their stories. That being said, I did find this to be quite an easy read. If you're looking for quite an 'out there' concept-style of book, then I think you'd really enjoy this!
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Wid Jan
August 18, 2023
Could not stop crying the last half of the book. Pacing is a bit slow and there weren't any big surprises but definitely a good read in you're in a slump / need a good cry.
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Lorraine See
April 11, 2023
DNF. I like the premise of the plot, but it's slow-paced and almost nothing happens for the first third of the book. It's also hard to keep track of the new characters being introduced, as they all have very bland personalities. Perhaps this isn't the right genre for me.
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About the author

Toshikazu Kawaguchi was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971. He formerly produced, directed and wrote for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include COUPLE, Sunset Song and Family Time. The novel Before the Coffee Gets Cold is adapted from a 1110 Productions play by Kawaguchi, which won the 10th Suginami Drama Festival grand prize. It was followed by Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye and Before We Forget Kindness.

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