From the bestselling author of Strange Weather in Tokyo, here is a story of treasure hoarders, bargain hunters and would-be lovers.
Among the jumble of paperweights, plates, typewriters and general bric-a-brac in Mr Nakano's thrift store, there are treasures to be found. Each piece carries its own story of love and loss - or so it seems to Hitomi, when she takes a job there. And her fellow employees are just as curious as the items they sell. There's the store's owner, Mr Nakano, an enigmatic ladies' man with several ex-wives; Sakiko, his sensuous, unreadable lover; his sister, Masayo, an artist whose free-spirited creations mask hidden sorrows. And finally there's Hitomi's fellow employee, Takeo, whose abrupt and taciturn manner Hitomi finds, to her consternation, increasingly disarming.
A beguiling story of love found amid odds and ends, The Nakano Thrift Shop is a heart-warming and utterly charming novel from one of Japan's most celebrated contemporary novelists.
'A charming read' Good Housekeeping
'One for the holiday suitcase' Vogue
Publisher: Granta Books
ISBN: 9781846276026
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 190 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 15 mm
Subtle, graceful, wise and threaded on a quirky humour, this exploration of the connections and disconnections between people kept me smiling long after the last page - Julia Rochester, author, The House at the Edge of the World
One for the holiday suitcase - Vogue.co.uk
Charming - Cathy Rentzenbrink, Stylist.co.uk
The Nakano Thrift Shop is really a love story, albeit a very offbeat one... A gentle book, full of charm [and] radiating leftfield charisma - Anna Fielding, Emerald Street
The delightful nature of the story comes from the magic of the ordinary and the everyday goings on in the shop owned by the enigmatic Mr Nakano - i paper
The ever-readable, ebulliently-imaginative Japanese novelist burst the four small walls of Nakano-san's bric-a-brac shop with this tale of unusual, unrelated but inextricably intertwined characters - Monocle
Kawakami is one of Japan's most popular contemporary novelists and, thanks to the Allison Markin Powell's translation, we get to enjoy this meandering and innocent novel... A tenderly handled mystery and a fractured love story. Delightful - Rachel Howdle, Press Association
A charming read from the bestselling Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami - Good Housekeeping
Hitomi takes in her town's characters and dramas - and finds love - from behind the cash register. - Grazia
Highly enjoyable and surprisingly accessible. Significant praise should be given to Allison Markin Powell's excellent work in translating the book - Sleepless Editor
A novel about identity, loneliness and about non-conformism. With Kawakami's writing raising questions about sex and identity it is no surprise that her novels are so popular in structured, and often formal, Japan. This is a great novel and a highly accessible introduction to Japanese fiction. - Words Shortlist
Written in quietly understated prose infused with a gentle humour, Kawakami's novel is an absolute delight. The four principal characters are wonderfully driven - eccentric, idiosyncratic and thoroughly engaging. [...] I loved it - a welcome antidote to the twenty-four-hour misery cycle that is our news at the moment, and a reminder that joy can be found in the most prosaic of lives. - A Life in Books
Perhaps I had unfair expectations before reading it, but this was something of a letdown. I understood that Hiromi Kawakami was renowned for her slightly leftfield approach to storytelling, and I wasn't getting... More
The perfect escape to the constant dirge of depressing events that are clogging up our news feeds and social media. It reminded me of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Amélie' With a cast of fantastic offbeat... More
I expected to enjoy The Nakano Thrift Shop a lot more than I did. This book has a certain charm, and the characters are likeable enough, but I can't say I was blown away.
Translated books can be tricky-you...
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