Before The Coffee Goes Cold By Toshikazu Kawaguchi
In a small Tokyo café tucked down a quiet alley, customers are offered an extraordinary opportunity: the chance to travel to a specific moment in their past, as long as they follow a strict set of rules and return before their coffee gets cold. The novel unfolds through four interconnected stories; each centred on someone who takes that seat for deeply personal reasons. A woman longing for closure with a partner who left, a wife seeking a message from her husband whose memory is fading, a sister hoping to heal a long held rift and a mother wanting to meet the child she may never see grow up. Though none of them can change the present, each journey gives them a new way to understand loss, love and the quiet power of acceptance.
What makes the book so moving is its gentle tone and its unwavering focus on emotional truth. Kawaguchi uses a touch of magical realism to explore the weight of regret and the longing for second chances, crafting scenes that feel both tender and contemplative. The stories may be simple on the surface, but they carry a resonance that lingers, reminding readers that while the past is fixed, our understanding of it is not. It is a warm, reflective and quietly uplifting read that speaks to anyone who has ever wished for just one more moment with someone they miss.
