Laura Imai Messina

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The Library of Heartbeats

From the international bestselling author of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: a powerful, moving novel of grief, hope, friendship and love based around a real archive on an island in Japan, where people travel to record their heartbeats.

To find what you have lost, you must listen to your heart . . .

On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is 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 . . .

PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR AND THE PHONE BOX AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD:

'Absolutely breathtaking' Christy Lefteri, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo

'A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief' Sunday Times

'Strangely beautiful, uplifting and memorable, it's a book to savour' Choice, Book of the Month

'A poignant, atmospheric novel' Daily Mail

'A striking haiku of the human heart' The Times

'Beautiful. A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving' Clare Mackintosh

'Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul' Stacey Halls

'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