Before We Say Goodbye (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series #4)

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Before the Coffee Gets Cold may have started the sensation, but every subsequent installment has capably continued it, and Before We Say Goodbye does the same. Taking place a year before the series began, this is a unique entry point into Café Funiculi Funicula, examining the lasting effect of regret, and how to get past it.

PREORDER YOUR COPY OF BEFORE WE FORGET KINDNESS, the fifth book in the best-selling and much loved series, NOW!

The fourth novel in the internationally bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series

The regulars at the magical Café Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary time-travel offer. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family and visited loved ones. But the journey is not without risks, and there are rules to follow.

In the tradition of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s sensational Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, readers will once again be introduced to a new set of visitors: the husband with something important left to say; the woman who couldn't bid her dog farewell; the woman who couldn't answer a proposal; and the daughter who drove her father away.

Featuring signature heartwarming characters and wistful storytelling, in the beautifully haunting Before We Say Goodbye, Kawaguchi asks: Who would you visit if you could travel through time?

Meet more wonderful characters in the rest of the captivating Before the Coffee Gets Cold series:

• Before the Coffee Gets Cold
• Tales from the Cafe
• Before Your Memory Fades
• And the upcoming BEFORE WE FORGET KINDESS

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335009111
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Series:	Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series , #4
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	31,472
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

TOSHIKAZU KAWAGUCHI was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971. He has produced, directed and written for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include COUPLE, Sunset Song and family time. His play Before the Coffee Gets Cold won the grand prize at the Suginami Drama Festival. This is his debut as an author. Before the Coffee Gets Cold has become an international bestseller and has been adapted for the screen in Japan.

Editorial Reviews

09/25/2023

“There is a curious urban legend about a particular seat in a certain town’s coffee shop. Apparently, if you sit on that seat, it will take you back in time to whenever you wish.” Kawaguchi’s fourth entry in the Before Your Coffee Gets Cold series (after Before Your Memory Fades) returns to this fabled time-traveling café seat in four sweet, interconnected short stories. Though café patrons are forewarned that nothing they do in the past will change the future, they still choose to travel back in time for closure and catharsis. In “The Husband,” professor Monji Kadokura goes to see his wife before the accident that left her in a vegetative state, while in “The Farewell,” Sunao Hikita, who blames herself for her dog’s death, gets to see the pooch one last time. Hikari Ishimori confronts the ex-boyfriend whom she nearly married in “The Proposal,” and Michiko Kijimoto apologizes to her estranged father before his death in “The Daughter.” The mystical curiosity of the café’s existence, only hinted at in each segment, acts as mere background for literary, character-driven storytelling. The result is an examination of love and regret in four acts, written in fluid, dreamlike prose. Simple, sentimental, and profound, this is sure to scratch the itch for series fans. Agent: Neil Gudovitz, Neil Gudovitz & Co. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"[A]n examination of love and regret in four acts, written in fluid, dreamlike prose. Simple, sentimental, and profound, this is sure to scratch the itch for series fans."—Publishers Weekly

"[H]eart-balming."—Booklist


Praise for Before the Coffee Gets Cold series

"Characters come to the crisp realization that joy is allowed, that they don’t have to live burdened by regret; they are set free by a shift in perspective. The effect on the characters is like what the best talk therapy claims is possible: to reprocess past events to see them differently…. It’s easy to be cynical, though, and far rarer to encounter narratives that end with earnest tears of joy.” —New York Times Book Review on Tales from the Cafe

“The book’s resonating charm provides lasting emotional balm.” -Booklist on Tales from the Cafe


“Fans of Matt Haig's The Midnight Library will enjoy this quick read with touches of magical realism and soul-searching. Kawaguchi has found a unique way to manipulate such a commonly used trope as time travel and has captured the power of joy as a legacy.” —Library Journal on Tales from the Café


"Before the Coffee Gets Cold... may explore similar ground to its predecessors in the genre, but it inventively limits the mechanics of its time travel to the confines of a small cafe, and is all the more resonant for it... the narrative is deeply moving." -Chicago Review of Books on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"The story is gold. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is perfect for anyone who wants to feel connected right now." -BookReporter on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"An affecting, deeply immersive journey into the desire to hold onto the past. This wondrous tale will move readers." -Publishers Weekly on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"Kawaguchi... has a surprising, unerring ability to find lasting emotional resonance. Interwoven into what initially feels like a whimsical escape are existential conundrums of love and loss, family and freedom, life and death." -The Christian Science Monitor on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

“Kawaguchi… understands how the small stories of people's lives can motivate a wish to jump into another time... This quiet, powerful book encourages readers to overcome difficulties in the present and say what needs to be said before it's too late.” -Shelf Awareness, starred review on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"Heartwarming, quirky, and wistful." -Huffpost on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is able to create pathos for the characters who yearn in earnest to change the past... Check out Kawaguchi’s work if you fancy a break from the inescapable reality of the pandemic." -The Mancunion on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"A charming novel about a mysterious Japanese coffee shop in which customers who sit in a certain chair can go back in time - but just while their coffee is cooling." -Minneapolis StarTribune on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"By cleverly weaving fantastic strands into what turns out to be an entertaining tale... Kawaguchi builds suspense from scene to scene, carefully selecting his narrative clues." -The Arts Fuse on Before the Coffee Gets Cold

"This is a sweet, fable-like tale about a magical seat in a cafe where you can, if you wish, go back in time…

From the Publisher

Endearing.”

New York Times Book Review