Showing results by narrator "Hanako Footman" in All Categories

WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just...

Nagi Hayakawa is facing an impossible choice. Should she agree to marry her boyfriend, despite being ill and not knowing how many years she has left to live, or should she protect him from future heartbreak by refusing? Desperate for advice from the one person no longer there to give it - her mother who died years before - she reserves a table at the Chibineko Kitchen.

Through tidying up and discarding their possessions, characters in these stories come face-to-face with their memories and realize that some things exist but cannot be seen with their eyes. In these stories, Miko, a professional tidying consultant based on Marie, helps people tidy their homes and identify items that bring them joy. Along with her companion, an opinionated talking box named Boxter, Miko has a special power that no one else knows about - the ability to hear the voices of objects in a room.

Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they'll be expecting you. These are the directions Kotoko has been given. She arrives at the tiny restaurant, perched right by the water, early in the morning. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she's been promised that the food served there will bring him back to her, for one last time. 

Brought to you by Penguin Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From...

Frozen Out is set to be a TV sensation. In the harshest Arctic conditions, eight contestants will push their bodies and minds to breaking point for a £100,000 prize. The temperatures might be well below freezing, but the stakes couldn't be higher. And camerawoman Dee will be there to capture every second. But as rumours spread of corner-cutting and safety risks, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. When one of the contestants is found dead, it seems in keeping with the bad luck that has dogged the show. But Dee is not convinced this death was natural.

A fascinating journey through the wisdom and wonders of Japan In love with all things Japan or looking to absorb a little Japanese wisdom into your daily life? From the philosophies of ikigai and wabi sabi to kitsch karaoke nights and futuristic robot restaurants; traditional tea ceremonies and...

In 1966, Sook-Yin is exiled from Kowloon to London with orders to restore honour to her family. As she strives to fit into a world that does not understand her, she realises that survival will mean carving out a destiny of her own. Thirty years later, in London, her daughter Lily can barely remember the mother she lost as a small child. But when she is unexpectedly named in the will of a powerful Chinese stranger, she embarks on a secret pilgrimage to Hong Kong to discover the lost side of her identity and claim the reward. 

Within the Tokyo underworld there is an industry which exists to break up marriages. It is known today as 'wakaresaseya' - agents who, for a fee, can be hired by one spouse to seduce the other and provide grounds for divorce on favourable terms. Inspired by a real case, this is the story of Kaitaro Nakamura, a wakaresaseya agent, who is hired by a man to seduce his wife. Kaitaro falls in love with his target, Rina, and after the divorce she moves in with him, unaware of his role in the demise of her marriage.   

Hidden away in a corner of the Ginza neighbourhood is a venerable stationery shop. To venture inside is to find everything your stationery-loving heart desires, from the most delicate paper to fountain pens that fit exactly to the shape of your hand to gorgeously coloured inks. The shop owner intuits your every need, inviting you to take a seat at a small wooden table on the top floor, where you'll find the words flowing, helping you unlock repressed memories, secret longings and your own mysteries.

Brought to you by Penguin. From the multi-million-copy bestselling author of LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR and LOST SOULS MEET UNDER A FULL MOON Ayumi is a young man with special powers to bring back the dead to meet the living. A gift passed down in his family, he is able to arrange meetings...

When lies are everywhere, how far will you go for the truth? A tense eco-drama with an explosive twist from the million-copy selling author of Girl, Missing. Fourteen-year-old Maya cannot believe she has to spend the summer with her grandmother, helping out at the family cosmetics firm. But...

Brought to you by Penguin. WINNER OF THE 2022 AKUTAGAWA PRIZE The power dynamics of the office are never more obvious than when it comes to food: mandatory lunches with the boss, the colleague who tries to curry favour with home-baked goods, discovering the discarded remnants of someone else's...

‘I wanted to pass it on to all my friends’ SHEILA HETI ‘Remarkable clarity and humour’ VOGUE ‘Funny and tender’ PANDORA SYKES ‘Sticks with you forever’ MADELINE CASH A tragicomic and utterly original debut novel following a woman trying to make sense of her life and herself as...

The first novel in a dazzling epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Japanese folklore and Studio Ghibli, set within a mythical archipelago brimming with dragons and Sun Spirits, high-tech hackers and bubble tea. Life is hard for the inhabitants of Rainshadow City, a place where poverty and corruption...

Discover the gripping story of a young boy struggling to find his place in a world where nature itself has turned against humanity in the unforgettable conclusion to the Rampart trilogy. What will the future hold for those who are left? Koli has come a long way since being exiled from his small...

Brought to you by Penguin. The award-winning, bestselling Japanese phenomenon. A propulsive, prophetic novel about the beauty of language and the nature of identity in the age of AI. Welcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of a radical sympathy toward criminals has become the norm...

Secrets and Lies are everywhere you look! And the storm is coming! The new teen thriller from Sophie McKenzie, the bestselling author of Girl Missing Hollie has spent her whole life on the quiet south coast. She's faced some tough challenges, but then who hasn't? When she and her best friend...

Asa tries to give her classmate a biscuit. Nami evades her classmates' playground game of acorn-throwing. Happy decides she's not interested in doing anything other than lying down on her sofa. Each of these three stories begins in a reasonable place-but by the end you'll find yourself in another world altogether.

The must-have book for mixed-raced children - discover the joy of being wholly yourself with Mixed: Explore and Celebrate Your Mixed-Race Identity. Join Emma Slade Edmondson, co-host of the award-winning Mixed Up podcast, as she guides readers to be their authentic selves and live outside of the...