Four Seasons in Japan: A big-hearted book-within-a-book about finding purpose and belonging, perfect for fans of Matt Haig’s THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

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It’s spring and cherry blossom season in Tokyo, Japan and yet American translator Flo Dunthorpe is in despair following the poor reception of her latest book translation. There’s another blow too as she is breaking up with her girlfriend who is going to live in the United States. However, will a lovely book she finds called ‘Sound of Water’ by the mysterious writer Hibiki restore her fortunes? Meanwhile, grandmother Ayako runs a cafe in Onomichi and is expecting the arrival of her daydreamer grandson nineteen year old Kyo. Like Flo, Kyo has lost his way in life after failing his exams and reluctantly travels to Onomichi to attend a cram school to help him get accepted to study medicine. After an unpromising start Kyo learns there’s way more to his grandmother than he initially gives her credit for. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for review! Sound of Water is the book where Ayako and her grandson, Kyo came in. I was ingrain in this second part of the story. I spotted the obvious generational gap, the haunted family tragedy permeating them, the failure, grief, and embarrassment. There are so many concerns plaguing these characters and I love how the author does the storytelling about the hierarchy and culture. Moreover, I found the setting is descriptive with the four seasons and beautiful Onomichi, then with the pictures that tug my heart <3 It’s a translated novel within a novel, if that makes sense, so a character from my first novel is living in Tokyo and she started out as a literary translator and she’s finding that having achieved her dream of becoming a literary translator hasn’t brought her happiness and she’s struggling in her relationship.

An affecting tale of lost souls making connections, told with wit, compassion and gentle inventiveness. Tom Watson, author of MetronomeI immensely enjoyed the book because there was a certain degree of warmth I felt while reading. It’s not really a plot-driven kind of storyline as I think the stories centred around the characters. I love the concept of the delivery which excited me a lot by having that touch of mystery element. I just wished that the “Sound of Water” was a real book, because I need to have some answers. We follow their journey through all four seasons with two timelines for each season: Flo with her life story and translation, and Kyo and Ayako as they adjust to a new relationship. I liked the Kyo and Ayako segment more than Flo. However, it was nice to see that Flo's growth from insecure after her last translation was not well received to someone confident and determined to find the owner of the story. As for Kyo and Ayako, I like how these two different people gradually realize how similar they are and start supporting each other as they recover and find themselves.

A beautiful, meditative, and oh so tender tale about family, art, and finding your place in the world. Despite its sometimes heavy topics, it's written with a light enough touch to make for a consoling and hopeful read, filled with warmth and compassion. I breezed through it. Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days One interesting thing to note of is how all the characters in the story are readers. That was certainly a plus point. Ayako, despite of her old age was an avid reader and I think that is so cool! Slight bias: I've spent a few years in Japan and miss it. I studied abroad in Tokyo and took a holiday to Onomichi and cycled over the famous cycle route there. It was a beautiful city and added to the story for me as I could picture it. This book feeds the part of me that enjoys the nostalgic feeling that Japanese fiction gives me. To make you not confused, firstly we go through with the character Flo. She has a situation with her translation works where she has lost her originality in her translation which makes her condemn herself for not being able to make the reader connect with the stories that she did. At this point, I admire and see through those people who work as published translators. It was not an easy job to convey the original context with proper words to the readers. The rating of the book affected them, not just the author. In this case, due to Flo slowly losing her passion, she was waiting for the moment to find the right book to translate. So there she found a book called Sound of Water, being left by someone on a train. Flo finds a book left behind on the Tokyo’s underground and immediately gets into its story, trying to translate it into English and publish it abroad. She does everything in her power to try and find the mysterious author of the novel, whilst falling in love with the book itself. The book talks about Kyo, a 19-yo boy who has just failed his exams and was sent to live with his grandma in the rural Japan. Although their relationships starts off coolly, as Kyo has to heavily readjust to his current living situation, both him and his grandma Ayako learn new things from each other.

There is a heavy depiction of depressing and suicidal thoughts that really gets to me which i found myself choked up just thinking about it. Its the feeling that is relatable but hurts the most. I want to hug Kyo so bad reading it. Kyo failed his university entrance exams, and he goes to live with his strict grandmother Ayako in her humble house in Onomichi and she runs a small coffee shop. Kyo's mother is a doctor, so doing well at cram school is extremely important and so he can resist the exams to get into medical school. The best part about the book is the beautiful quotes. How I wish I could quote them all here! Since I can’t do that, highlighting the few I loved the most. if you're going to spend the rest of your life doing something, you should probably be sure it's something you want to do. Otherwise you'll just make yourself miserable, no?"

Transportive, mesmerising and beautiful, there is such a poignancy and tenderness to the story . . . written with lyrical prose that is emotive and warm. Every book worm would love this. Glamour This book-within-a-book novel follows the lives of three characters: Flo - the translator, Kyo - the lost boy, and Ayako - the grandma.

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However, so many people refused to give up on her. This is the book that we need in response to cancel culture. But the important thing is that you turn up, you get out your pen, and you draw one small thing, one line at a time. That's how you achieve something big. Not in one giant leap, but in ten thousand tiny steps." Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including: I like the two stories premise which is interspersed with Flo’s translation of Sound of Water and scattered throughout are some wonderful illustrations and photographs which add to the storytelling and I love looking at these. The setting in Japan is fascinating and lovers of all things Japanese will find this novel resonates. You get an excellent peak into Japanese society via Kyo and Ayako and the other inhabitants of the small town of Onomichi. If you are a cat lover they feature prominently too, especially Coltrane (not Robbie!). Surprisingly moving ... This is a novel that occupies multiple worlds in multiple ways ... a postmodern riddle while also making for an emotionally engaging story ... there's something here for everyone. The Times

A finely drawn evocation of Japan, of youth, age, dreams, disillusionment, struggles and strength... A poignant and beautiful book.' Hazel Prior, author of Away with the Penguins I didn’t enjoy Flo’s story as much as I enjoyed Kyo’s. I found it much easier to relate to Kyo rather than Flo, whose constant dissatisfaction was slightly nagging. Flo’s struggles feel forced at times. In my opinion, the resolution could have been handled better. Ayako’s story ended abruptly, while the ending of Flo’s story was not as appealing as the story itself. This book is a finely-wrought wonder. Four Seasons in Japan carries its wisdom lightly, but tells a profound tale about the redemptive power of narrative and the consolations of art. Joe Mungo Reed, author of Hammer Flo mochte ich sehr. Ich fand ihren Job als Übersetzerin toll und es gefiel mir, beobachten zu dürfen, wie sie durch ihr neustes Projekt selbst über sich hinauswächst und ihr Leben wieder ordnet. Sie brennt so sehr für diese Geschichte das fand ich toll. I had a very strong idea that I wanted to be a writer, but I was from a generation where I think if you wanted to be a writer, you studied English literature.

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We get Four Seasons in Japan as the theme for the story "Sound of Water", with each season potray the evolving connection between Ayako and Kyo. Ayako was a strongheaded woman, no nonsense attitude, brash at times but nice at heart although it gets frustrating when she will expect more from someone else while using her age as a reason for her grandson to behave when she obviously gets out of boundary. Its really irked me at some point but I understand the difference in generational thinking. While Kyo is a young boy, lonely and struggles with his own thoughts, not knowing what to do with his life, his affection for his mother and the missing figure of his father. All Kyo wants is to know who is his father, what kind of person he was and it was painful & sad to see the boy missed his father, never know him as a father and no one seems want to tell him about his father. The potrayal of sadness & grief were present in this book, its the one that tugged my heartstrings the most. For both of them, they lost their loved one, Ayako with her regrets for not letting his son achieve his dream and Kyo, for not having the chance to meet him🥲. Neither is easy to live with, and it’s very fascinating to read about how their relationship grows over the time of a year, with all its ups and downs. Even though they are very different people, they also have more in common than they would think. They are both stubborn, strong-headed, driven by their passions, and have hearts of gold. Neither of them is easy to like or agree with at times, but I loved reading about them and all the characters that appear in their lives. Especially Ayumi. She was the best. There are so many layers or themes that are somehow discussed in both stories such as translation work issues, Japanese culture and traditions, relationship between books and their readers, art and poetry appreciation, as well as changes and acceptance between the youngs and the olds, as well as the cities and the rurals. Most importantly, one main important theme that encapsulates both stories is concerning one’s passion in life. Does one person do things in life because of his passion or because he needs to? This is where our main characters are trying to deliver their messages to us. This novel is like the waves of the Seto Inland Sea. Waves that calmly roll in and out, permeating the reader's heart and mind profoundly, and before you know it there's a rich high tide." - Kyoko Nakajima In a world where society has lost its humanity, where people don’t even see each other as people anymore, the sense of community and connection in Four Seasons in Japan was really beautiful.