Before Your Memory Fades

The third mosaic novel in Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series (after Tales from the Café) is melancholy and uplifting by turn. This installment moves north of Tokyo to Hakodate on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. There, in Café Donna Donna, customers can travel to the past following very specific rules: they must sit in a certain chair, they cannot leave the café and can only interact with past moments that have taken place within its walls,, and they must finish their coffee before it gets cold or they’ll be stuck in the café as a ghost. Four travelers decide to risk it anyway—The Daughter, The Comedian, The Sister, and The Young Man. Three of their four stories concern visiting those who are now dead and, though their actions in the past cannot impact the reality of the present, their conversations do change how they feel, leaving each with a more positive take on their situation. Kawaguchi reinforces the time travelers’ lesson of living without regret by having the café patrons read and discuss the fictional book What If the World Were Ending Tomorrow: One Hundred Questions. Meanwhile, the beautiful backdrop of Hakodate creates a lovely atmosphere. Readers looking for a nudge to live life to its fullest will find one here. (Nov.)