Book Review 

 

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

 

This book is a beautiful description of how the grieving process affects people differently. It also stresses that there is no one right way to grieve; each person must grieve in their own way and in their own time. 

But it also goes beyond grieve and sadness. This book shows that acceptance and joy after grief is possible. 

 

Yui’s life is forever changed by the tsunami that tore apart Japan in March 2011. She is left alone, struggling to come to terms with her new reality. Until one day she hears about a phone booth in a garden at the edge of the world. People travel far and wide to use this phone to talk to those who they have loved and lost. Yui decides to make her own pilgrimage to this phone booth and it changes the course of her life. 

 

This is a powerful book. I could feel Yui’s grief and anxiety and hopelessness. But I could also feel her moments of joy and surprise. It’s a powerful book that can evoke such emotional reactions. 

The prose is poignant and beautifully written. If you have ever lost someone, you will feel a cathartic release upon reading this book. It may bring up some unwanted emotions but it doesn’t leave you there. It helps you traverse the stages of grief, or at the very least see that there is a way out of what can seem like a bottomless pit of sorrow. 

 

Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️