Scan barcode
A review by amybibliophile
The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
3.0
The Phone Box at The Edge of The World follows the life story of Yui and Takeshi set in Japan. Both have lost love ones and have heard about The Phone of the Wind where it is said you can speak to lost loved ones through a disconnected telephone, they happen to meet on their separate journeys to Bell Gardia where the phonebox stands.
I thought this would be a heart-wrenching book where I would find myself sobbing the whole way through, but I found myself positively surprised at the wisdom and heartfelt story that emerges from these two characters. The first part of the book tells Yui's devastating story of how she lost her mother and little girl in the tsunami, the horrific happenings of that day and the way in which she spend the following months living on a small mat surrounded by hundreds of others who were also searching for lost family. Takeshi lost his wife and has been left to raise his three-year-old daughter alone, a little girl who has lost her speech due to the shock of losing her mother so young.
After their paths cross, Yui and Takeshi make that same long journey to Bell Gardia every month together. They form a close friendship between them, one that grows over the years.
Both of them must find the strength to move on but never forget, to keep living despite how hard the grief, and to love again without boundaries.
What fascinated me most about this story was that the Phonebox in Bell Gardia is actually a real place owned and cared for by the family that appears in this very book. Although not featured on any map, the Wind Phone is visited by many all over the world and the doors are always open to those who need it most.
You can read more about the Wind Phone on this website - https://bell-gardia.jp/about_en/
It is a private property and ran by a private operation, you can support the upkeep and help keep it open by donating through the link!
Thank you to Manilla Press for gifting me a copy of this wonderful book.
I thought this would be a heart-wrenching book where I would find myself sobbing the whole way through, but I found myself positively surprised at the wisdom and heartfelt story that emerges from these two characters. The first part of the book tells Yui's devastating story of how she lost her mother and little girl in the tsunami, the horrific happenings of that day and the way in which she spend the following months living on a small mat surrounded by hundreds of others who were also searching for lost family. Takeshi lost his wife and has been left to raise his three-year-old daughter alone, a little girl who has lost her speech due to the shock of losing her mother so young.
After their paths cross, Yui and Takeshi make that same long journey to Bell Gardia every month together. They form a close friendship between them, one that grows over the years.
Both of them must find the strength to move on but never forget, to keep living despite how hard the grief, and to love again without boundaries.
What fascinated me most about this story was that the Phonebox in Bell Gardia is actually a real place owned and cared for by the family that appears in this very book. Although not featured on any map, the Wind Phone is visited by many all over the world and the doors are always open to those who need it most.
You can read more about the Wind Phone on this website - https://bell-gardia.jp/about_en/
It is a private property and ran by a private operation, you can support the upkeep and help keep it open by donating through the link!
Thank you to Manilla Press for gifting me a copy of this wonderful book.