The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai-Messina
On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is Shinzo ̄-on no A ̄kaibu, 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 . . .
Biographies
Laura Imai Messina (Author)
Laura Imai Messina was born in Rome and moved to Tokyo at the age of 23. Her international bestselling novel The Phone Box at the Edge of the World was published in 31 countries. Laura teaches at some of the most prestigious Japanese universities, as well as writing for newspapers and working with the Japanese National TV Channel NHK.
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.
Review
‘The Library of Heartbeats’ is a tender and poignant book which took my breath away! I had always meant to pick up this author and her last book is in my teetering tbr pile, so I jumped at the chance of reading this book. It didn't not disappoint, it has a calming essence and touches on deep themes of grief, loss, growing up and unexpected friendships.
When Shuichi, an illustrator, return home to Kamakura to deal with the aftermath of his mother's death, he was not expecting to deal with a daily intruder to her house. Every afternoon a young boy enters the garage and takes a few objects from the myriad of boxes. What grows from this is a beautiful friendship between Shuichi and Kenya, aged 8. Both the main characters touched my heart in different ways. They are both naive, gentle-hearted and isolated in themselves. But both have beautiful hearts and I loved getting to know them.
Japanese fiction always is a more measured and thoughtful form of literature and this one is no different. It's not about the destination but the characters journey and how they adapt and develop along the way. You expect beautiful descriptions, thoughtful and philosophical prose and that is what you get here. At times I inwardly gasped at some of the beautiful phrasing. I also enjoyed getting to know the background behind of the kanji and how different symbols come together to form the final phrase or word.
This is a melancholy story but one that will touch your heart and stay in your conscious for along time. Let me know if you pick this one up!
