Mina's Matchbox

<p><b><i>On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars.</i></b><br><br>After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.<br><br>The 1970s are bringing changes to Japan and her uncle''s magnificent colonial mansion opens up a new and unfamiliar world for Tomoko; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pygmy hippo the family keeps as a pet. Tomoko finds her relatives equally exotic and beguiling and her growing friendship with her cousin Mina draws her into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.<br><br>Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, <i>Mina’s Matchbox </i>is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.<br><br><b>Praise for <i>Mina''s Matchbox </i></b><br><br>''I read <i>Mina’s Matchbox</i> like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end.'' <b>RUTH OZEKI, author of <i>The Book of Form and Emptiness</i></b><br><br>''<b>Dreamy and whimsical,</b> <i>Mina’s Matchbox</i> traffics in the themes at which Ogawa always excels: memory, identity, and nostalgia'' <b><i>Esquire, </i>Best Books of the Summer </b><br><br>''A conspicuously gifted writer. . . To read Ogawa is to enter a dreamlike state. . . She possesses an effortless, glassy, eerie brilliance'' <b><i>Guardian</i></b><br><br>‘Evokes the secret crushes and crushing secrets of girlhood with charm and elegance’ <b><i>People</i></b><br><br>‘Immersive and poignant. . . filled with wonder’ <b>Bookpage</b><br><br>''Beguiling'' <b><i>New Yorker</i>, Best Books of 2024<br><br>''</b>The world Yoko Ogawa builds is quiet, warm and it should feel comforting. But there are peculiarities about the whole thing that keep you on the tips of your toes'' <b><i>NPR, </i>Best Books of 2024 </b><br><br><b>Reader Reviews</b><br><br>‘I was<b> totally swept away</b> by it.’<br><br>‘It''s a beautiful coming of age story.<b> I''d recommend it to any lovers of translated fiction!</b>’<br><br>‘<b>Uplifting</b>. And Pochiko, the pygmy hippo? A wonder.’<br><br>‘<b>A beautiful coming of age story</b>’</p>