Mina's Matchbox: A Novel Authored By Yoko Ogawa
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From the award-winning, psychologically astute author of The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa presents Mina’s Matchbox, a hypnotic and introspective novel about a Japanese family’s buried secrets and the young house guest who uncovers them.
In the spring of 1972, twelve-year-old Tomoko boards a train from Tokyo to the coastal town of Ashiya, leaving her mother behind to stay with her enigmatic aunt's family. Tomoko's aunt is a striking figure, an outlier in her working-class background, living in a grand mansion filled with German-made furnishings, sprawling gardens, and an old zoo housing a pygmy hippopotamus. Her handsome foreign husband, the president of a soft drink company, and their complex household only add to the family’s allure.
As Tomoko settles into her aunt’s world, she meets her cousin Mina, a thirteen-year-old with asthma and a penchant for elaborate storytelling. Mina introduces Tomoko to a world of secret crushes and mesmerizing tales. Yet, behind the veneer of sophistication and opulence, Tomoko begins to perceive the hidden cracks: her uncle’s mysterious absences, her great-aunt’s wartime experiences, and her aunt’s underlying sadness.
In this elegant jewel box of a novel, Ogawa captures a pivotal and magical moment in Tomoko’s life. Mina’s Matchbox reveals the complexities of a family on the brink of unraveling, exploring themes of curiosity, enchantment, and the weight of unspoken truths. Through Tomoko’s eyes, readers are drawn into a poignant, evocative snapshot of youthful experience and familial disintegration. 📚❤️
In the spring of 1972, twelve-year-old Tomoko boards a train from Tokyo to the coastal town of Ashiya, leaving her mother behind to stay with her enigmatic aunt's family. Tomoko's aunt is a striking figure, an outlier in her working-class background, living in a grand mansion filled with German-made furnishings, sprawling gardens, and an old zoo housing a pygmy hippopotamus. Her handsome foreign husband, the president of a soft drink company, and their complex household only add to the family’s allure.
As Tomoko settles into her aunt’s world, she meets her cousin Mina, a thirteen-year-old with asthma and a penchant for elaborate storytelling. Mina introduces Tomoko to a world of secret crushes and mesmerizing tales. Yet, behind the veneer of sophistication and opulence, Tomoko begins to perceive the hidden cracks: her uncle’s mysterious absences, her great-aunt’s wartime experiences, and her aunt’s underlying sadness.
In this elegant jewel box of a novel, Ogawa captures a pivotal and magical moment in Tomoko’s life. Mina’s Matchbox reveals the complexities of a family on the brink of unraveling, exploring themes of curiosity, enchantment, and the weight of unspoken truths. Through Tomoko’s eyes, readers are drawn into a poignant, evocative snapshot of youthful experience and familial disintegration. 📚❤️
Listed on 16 August, 2024