The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she wonders how she will ever carry on. Yet, in the face of this unthinkable loss, life must somehow continue.

Then one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone box in his garden. There, those who have lost loved ones find the strength to speak to them and begin to come to terms with their grief. As news of the phone box spreads, people travel to it from miles around.

Soon Yui makes 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.

What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking.

The moment I saw the cover for The Phone Box at the Edge of the World I was intrigued, I loved the soft delicate design and when I read the synopsis I was eager to read this novel as I have always had an interest in Tsunamis and this sounded like it would focus on coping with life after the event which would be a completely original read to me.

This was such a tender read that although centers around grief and loss was not a depressive read it was actually full of light and hope showing how by talking to those our characters miss they begin to gradually take a step forward in their lives but still feel like they were connected to them in some way by including them and updating them with the daily goings on in their lives.

There are a handful of characters in this novel who we get to know but Yui and Takeshi take the main focus, both have lost loved ones and are stuck in that hole of grief unable to move forward with their lives and the friendship and trust that builds between them was such a joy to see.

I was surprised to find that this novel was inspired by an actual phonebox where people go to speak to there loved ones and I think this is such a beautiful idea that obviously brings comfort to so many both in the novel and in real life.

The only thing I would say that affected my enjoyment of the novel was the structure of the chapters which alternated between the storyline and then a random short chapter about something that was mentioned in the previous chapter which personally I found stopped the flow of the novel and at times I found my interest wavering.

This was a poignant read that brings love, light and hope to a heartbreaking situation.