Name: Taylor Butterfield's review of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
Item: The Phone Box at the Edge of the World
Rating: 3
Author: Taylor Butterfield

Laura Imai Messina

*A moving, unforgettable story, inspired by true events* '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 with us. When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find . . . Then she meets 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 Phone Box at the Edge of the World is an unforgettable story of the depths of grief, the lightness of love and the human longing to keep the people who are no longer with us close to our hearts. 'A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief and the small miraculous moments that persuade people to start looking forward again' Sunday Times 'Strangely beautiful, uplifting and memorable, it's a book to savour' Choice, Book of the Month 'A poignant, atmospheric novel dealing with love, coming to terms with loss and the restoration of one's self' Daily Mail 'A story about the dogged survival of hope when all else is lost . . . A striking haiku of the human heart' The Times 'Beautiful. A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving' Clare Mackintosh, Sunday Times bestselling author of After the End 'Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars 'Mesmerising . . . beautiful . . . a joy to read' Joanna Glen, Costa shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope 'Spare and poetic, this beautiful book is both a small, quiet love story and a vast expansive meditation on grieving and loss' Heat 'A perfect poignant read' Woman & Home

A moving story of grief, love and hope for fans of The Beekeeper of Aleppo

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World

Taylor Butterfield

When Yui loses both her mother and her daughter in the tsunami, she begins to mark the passage of time from that date onward: Everything is relative to March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami tore Japan apart, and when grief took hold of her life. Yui struggles to continue on, alone with her pain. Then, one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone booth 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 booth spreads, people travel to it from miles around. Soon Yui makes her own pilgrimage to the phone booth, too. But once there she cannot bring herself to speak into the receiver. Instead she finds Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of her mother's death.

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

Lots of differences between this and what I normally read. I feel like I learned a lot from this book and it will help me somewhere down the line

Maxwell B

altlovesbooks

So there's an actual phone booth (disconnected) in a garden in Otsuchi that has become a spot to help people who have lost loved ones heal. They come, they sit in the garden a bit, and "talk" to their deceased loved ones through this disconnected phone. Basically it lets them say the things they were never able to say when they were alive. There's a whole Wikipedia article here about it, and an Atlas Obscura article on it as well, with pictures. I thought this is a touching, fascinating idea, and was prepared for something to make me cry.

I dunno, this book just didn't click with me. It was fine? But I just never felt connected with any of the characters. Yui lost her mother and daughter before the story starts, and she meets Takeshi at the Wind Phone, there grieving for his lost wife. Takeshi has a daughter Hana, and the three of them grapple with what a relationship together means while also healing from their loss. It's a fine story, just not one I really wanted. For a phone that talks to dead relatives, I was expecting more drama, more tears, more touching heartbreak. I was actually a little bored with the story told, but it was fine enough.

An interesting premise without an interesting story, for me anyway. Someone coping with loss and rebuilding their life may get more out of it than I did, however.

A sweeping, moving novel that is becoming an international sensation - based on an incredible true story.

Ellen Beathe 

It was quite boring but I could manage reading it since it had such short chapters .

Fraser Simons

This was what it said it was. I felt like the characters had no physicality to them though—merely the stand-ins for their respective tones of grief. And that led to some interesting visualization for me, but also made it feel like I was pretty removed from the story, despite the ostensible, somewhat artificial feeling, intimacy the text attempts to cultivate via the constant prescriptive rumination the characters telegraph to the reader. 

That said, I’ve never been all that into the intersection of outright self-help and fiction. I prefer subjectivity and a well struck theme that makes you think, to the voice in fiction being the author communicating their “advice”. With one exception: Khalil Gabran.

The moving and uplifting international bestseller, based on an incredible true story.

Sophie 

i loved this book and i love how it’s set in one of my favourite places on earth: japan.
this book has such a meaning and the quotes in this are so good. i loved yui’s story throughout this, you get to see her develop over the book and the hardships she faces in grieving and accepting death. 
i recommend this book if you want to know more about the real life phone box at the edge of the world.

I was eager to read this book after hearing such great things. The story is so interesting and original! The idea that someone could go to a phone booth to speak to their lost loved ones is so great. However, it fell a little flat for me. It could be partially due to my own expectations, but I just kept waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. It really is beautifully written with themes of loss, love, grief and hope. It’s filled with a ton of profound quotes and thought provoking moments, but I just didn’t feel a connection to the story or characters. I think maybe I read this at the wrong time in my life or maybe I’m just lucky to have not experienced that kind of intense grief.  

Nicole

This book was heartbreakingly beautiful. A wonderful story of trauma, grief, and healing. 

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

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