Before the coffee gets cold: Tales from the Café is the second in a series of short novels by playwright, producer and author Toshikazu Kawaguchi. The first book, Before the coffee gets cold, was adapted from Kawaguchi’s play of the same name.
In a small dark alley somewhere in Tokyo is a café where patrons can go backwards or forwards in time. There is one particular chair in this establishment occupied by a woman who is also a ghost. Once each day she leaves her table to visit the toilet and while she has gone, a patron may take the opportunity to sit in her chair and travel in time, but only until their coffee gets cold.
In this book we, the reader, are offered stories from characters who are, in turn, looking for absolution or a chance to assuage their grief or guilt or both. While these four stories are set some six years after the first novel and the characters vising the café have changed, the basic formula remains the same.
For 22 years Gohtaro has lied to his daughter about her birth family. Now she is about to marry and he knows that the truth about his deception will be revealed. Haruka is in fact the daughter of Gohtaro’s best friend and his wife who were tragically killed when the child was only a year old. After honouring his promise to take care of the child, he is now wracked with guilt about his deception and worried about his daughter’s reaction to the truth. His quest is to seek absolution through contact with his friend Shuichi and to return with a message from him for their daughter.
Since the death of her mother, Kazu the waitress at the café, had been nurtured by an art teacher who has recently passed away. Kinuyo’s son Yukio, a potter, had not been aware of his mother’s illness and was unable to attend her funeral. He is an angry man who is not only grieving the loss of his mother but is also greatly distressed about the way his own life has evolved. He wants to revisit his mother before her death.
The third story involves a trip to the future. Kurata has come from the past to connect with his love Asami. He knows he is dying and he want to make sure that Asami, after his death, realises that her happiness is important to him and that she continues her life in a way that will fulfill this wish for her.
The last visitor to the chair is Kiyoshi, a customer who earlier in the book asked for help to find a suitable birthday present for his wife. Unbeknown to all, Kiyoshi’s wife, Kimiko, had been killed some 30 years earlier. On the night Kimiko died she was to meet Kiyoshi at the café but he was delayed at work and, as she walked home, she was killed by a mugger. After her death Kiyoshi had felt the burden of not just grief at her passing but also the guilt that he was to blame.
In this reviewer’s opinion the writing is clunky and the frequent regurgitation of information about characters and rules often unnecessary. Although there were some beautiful prose and sentiments expressed, it was just a little too much for this reader and while not sorry to have read the book overall, there is no compunction to read either the first or third book in the series.
Ratings:Maggie 2.5, Pauline 2, Nicola 2, Jo 2.5, Sophie 3, Janet 3, Viv 2.5, Diane 3, Kim 2.5, Sandy 2.5, Cheryl 2.5, Lynda 3.5..
We look forward to seeing you again at our next meeting 6:30pm on Tuesday 13th of June at QCWA Mermaid Beach Centre located in 43 Ventura Rd, Mermaid Beach, when we’ll talk about Hamnet by Maggie O’Farell. Hope to see you there and Happy Reading!
The 2023 Reading List can be found in the sidebar, or below if you’re on your mobile device.
About Us
We are a group that gets together once a month to discuss good books. Each of us gets to choose a book on a rotational basis, preferably one outside our personal comfort zone – we try to keep the trash to ourselves. After the discussion, we comment on other books we read that month. Most of the time we remain friends after the meeting.
We normally meet at the QCWA Mermaid Centre at 43 Ventura Rd Mermaid Beach on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
A small contribution is required towards the rent of the room, but not if you are a first timer. The amount depends on the number of people attending.
One book title is chosen each month and we all read that book. There is a ‘host’ who introduces and co-ordinates the discussion. The role of host is rotated around the group so that each member has the opportunity to nominate their book (it could also be an author, theme or genre). The host also acts as chairperson for that meeting.
Although we are not a social club (we are readers), we occasionally attend literary events, relevant movies or plays here at the Gold Coast, Brisbane or Byron Bay. We conform to basic meeting practices and everyone has an equal opportunity to express their opinion. Everyone’s interpretation is valid, as long as it’s expressed respectfully.
We welcome any new members who share our aims and are happy to contribute to our group. Newcomers are not required to have read the book to attend the first meeting and no contribution is required from them at the first meeting attended.
Feel free to have a look at our Booklist 2023 and Newsletters in the sidebar. If you are reading this blog in a mobile device find the menu at the bottom of the page.
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