The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: The most moving, unforgettable book you will read, inspired by true events

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Ein weiches, ruhiges Büchlein über die verschiedenen Formen, die Trauer annehmen und wie man mit ihr Leben kann. The radio playlist corresponded beautifully with the topic of loss and Yui’s life. What song would sum up your life? Mesmerising . . . beautiful . . . a joy to read' Joanna Glen, Costa shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope

Laura Imai Messina’s novel is a beautifully written story that flows through ravaged loss, desolation, resilience, hope, and the promise of a future with love and peace. The Phone Box at the End of the World is a book that gently enriches the soul and beats with a loving serenity.

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Reading Paulette Jiles' revenge western Chenneville, it's easy to remember she's a poet. She plays ... Soon Yui will make her own pilgrimage to the phone box, too. But once there she cannot bring herself to speak into the receiver. Then she finds Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. Speaking of Japanese literature when interviewed in 2018 by The New York Transatlantic, Messina said, “It meets the need for beauty and meditation. The task of literature is to suggest new ways of being in the world, to connect the here to the there”. So says the author in the epilogue to her own novel. To my mind, Messina has attempted to echo the poet Basho (1644-1694) and take the spirit and purpose of the Haiku and elegantly transmute it into the form of an elegiac prose novel. Aspects of her touching book soar like eagles swooping above ice capped mountains, raising our spirits to meet them high above the ground of human grief. However, a cathartic literary therapy must be more than a fragrant, technically assured balm. Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of The Overlook Press.

A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief and the small miraculous moments that persuade people to start looking forward again' Sunday Times Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over. I loved the connection between the two main characters and how they slotted into each other’s lives. I loved how beautifully written the words are. I loved the short chapters making it an easy read. I loved the ‘profound quotes’ that make up the paragraphs of this book. Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking . . .Yui is intrigued and makes the drive from Tokyo. Along the way, she meets Takeshi, who lost his wife, and whose young daughter, Hana, is mute following her mother’s death, and together they find Bell Gardia, the garden “on a hill in the middle of nowhere” with the wind phone.

A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. Die Telefonzelle am Ende der Welt“, geschrieben von Laura Imai Messina ist eine Geschichte, die mich vollends berührt hat. Die Autorin greift hier eine wirklich tiefe Thematik, die der Trauer, des Neuanfangs, des Loslassens und einfach des Lebens, mit all seinem Licht und Schatten auf und verknüpft das ganze eben mit wahren Ereignissen und eben der Telefonzelle, am Ende der Welt... die es wirklich gibt und ein ganz besonderer Ort für viele Menschen ist, die ihren Toten geliebten Menschen gedenken, die noch nicht loslassen können und diese Telefonzelle als wichtigen Ort nutzen, um Abschied zu nehmen. Aber eben auch um neue Kraft zu schöpfen. Und so tauchte ich in diese Geschichte ein, tief bewegt, tief berührt und mit unzähligen Tränen in den Augen und doch dem Gefühl der Zuversicht, der Geborgenheit und der Hoffnung und Liebe im Herzen. Zu tiefst berührend, wunderschön in der Sprache.....ohne die übliche Küchenpsychologie....einfach ergreifend! Me encantó que además de los diversos y enternecedores personajes, la misma Bell Guardia (en donde se encuentra la cabina telefónica) es un personaje más dentro de la historia. Permitiéndonos conocer algunas de las llamadas que anónimos realizaron en ese lugar. While this is a story about grief, it isn’t a depressing read. Yui’s sorrow, along with the sorrow of all the visitors to the phone, is palpable yet also intertwined with hope and forgiveness. Yui has faced unimaginable tragedy and yet her compassion and resilience remain.What are some of the different ways the book portrays the relationship between parent and child? What does that relationship mean to Yui throughout the novel? Doliul e ceva ce mănânci zi de zi, un sandvici dumicat în deplină tihnă, cu bucățica. Astăzi un căpețel de pâine, un bob de orez uitat, mâine felia galbenă de lămâie. Digestia era înceată.” Das Leben zerrte an einem Menschen, mit der Zeit entstanden unzählige Risse und Brüche, doch vielleicht waren es ja genau sie, die die Geschichte eines Menschen formten und ihn anspornten, herauszufinden, was als Nächstes geschehen würde.<< New Book Announcement: “The Inscription of Things: Writing and Materiality in Early Modern China” by Thomas Kelly The central character of The Phone Box At The Edge Of The World was Yui. Yui was a woman that had everything, including a mother and daughter that she loved dearly. Their death in the 2011 tsunami changed her life irrevocably. Yui decides to join the many who make the long trek to Belle Gardia to speak to her beloved family members. Instead, Yui finds an unexpected friend in Takeshi. Takeshi was a doctor and a widow. His beloved wife, Akiko perished in the disaster. Hanna, Takeshi’s daughter, was deeply affected by the loss of her mother as she has not spoken since that day. When Yui meets the father and daughter, all their lives will be changed forever.