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Book of the Month

The Library of Heartbeats : A sweeping, emotional novel set in Japan from the author of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World

The Library of Heartbeats : A sweeping, emotional novel set in Japan from the author of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World - Laura Imai Messina

From the international bestselling author of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: a powerful, moving novel of grief, hope, friendship and love based around a real archive on an island in Japan, where people travel to record their heartbeats. To find what you have lost, you must listen to your heart.

On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is a library of heartbeats, a place where the heartbeats of visitors from all around the world are collected. In this small, isolated building, the heartbeats of people who are still alive or have already passed away continue to echo.

Several miles away, in the ancient city of Kamakura, two lonely souls meet: Shuichi, a forty-year-old illustrator, who returns to his home-town to fix up the house of his recently deceased mother, and eight-year-old Kenta, a child who wanders like a shadow around Shuichi's house. Day by day, the trust between Shuichi and Kenta grows until they discover they share a bond that will tie them together for life. Their journey will lead them to Teshima and to the library of heartbeats.

£16.99

£13.09

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Meet the Author

Laura Imai Messina’s novel The Phone Box at the Edge of the World was an international bestseller, published across 31 countries. It sold 100,000 copies of the UK edition alone, where it has been one of the biggest breakout novels in translation. Laura was born in Rome and moved to Tokyo at the age of 23. She teaches at some of the most prestigious Japanese universities, as well as writing for newspapers and working with the Japanese National TV Channel NHK. She lives in Kamakura, near Tokyo, with her family.

Lucy Rand (Translator)

Lucy Rand was shortlisted for the TA First Translation Prize for The Phone Box at the Edge of the World which she translated while living in Japan. She has also translated novels by Italian authors Paolo Milone and Irene Graziosi, and is the editor of the guided audiobook app, Audrey. She now lives in Norwich.

Also by Laura Imai Messina

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

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

'Absolutely breathtaking' Christy Lefteri, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo. We all have something to tell those we have lost . . . On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box.

For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer...

£9.99

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