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Four Seasons in Japan: A big-hearted book-within-a-book about finding purpose and belonging, perfect for fans of Matt Haig’s THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

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Sound of Water gives us the story of teenage Kyo and his grandmother, Ayako. Kyo has been sent from Tokyo to the rural town of Onomichi to live with his grandmother as he attends a cram school so that he can retake exams to get into medical school. Ayako is gruff and uncompromising, and Kyo struggles to find his place. The story here is layered as we uncover Kyo's talent for art and Ayako's struggles with the deaths of both her husband and her son (Kyo's father). Ayako and Kyo both grow and learn over the course of the year. A beguiling book within a book that delicately traces the interconnectedness of lives across generations, within families, between strangers, and between books and their readers. I loved it. Andrew Cowan, author of Worthless Men Bradley has created an authentic sense of place, capturing the parochial intimacies and day-to-day rhythms of small-town life in Japan Literary Review

Flo translates the story of Kyo, a sensitive teenager and his stubborn grandmother Ayako, even though she doesn’t have the author’s permission. This story occurs mainly in Onomichi, a countryside town. Bradley takes his readers to Japan and introduces them to the country’s history, customs, culture, cuisine, and traditions. It was a wonderful experience visualising the changing seasons. Flo finds a book left behind on the Tokyo’s underground and immediately gets into its story, trying to translate it into English and publish it abroad. She does everything in her power to try and find the mysterious author of the novel, whilst falling in love with the book itself. The book talks about Kyo, a 19-yo boy who has just failed his exams and was sent to live with his grandma in the rural Japan. Although their relationships starts off coolly, as Kyo has to heavily readjust to his current living situation, both him and his grandma Ayako learn new things from each other. To make you not confused, firstly we go through with the character Flo. She has a situation with her translation works where she has lost her originality in her translation which makes her condemn herself for not being able to make the reader connect with the stories that she did. At this point, I admire and see through those people who work as published translators. It was not an easy job to convey the original context with proper words to the readers. The rating of the book affected them, not just the author. In this case, due to Flo slowly losing her passion, she was waiting for the moment to find the right book to translate. So there she found a book called Sound of Water, being left by someone on a train.One interesting thing to note of is how all the characters in the story are readers. That was certainly a plus point. Ayako, despite of her old age was an avid reader and I think that is so cool!

Four Seasons of Japan" ist eine tiefgehende, teilweise auch melancholische Geschichte, die davon erzählt, was es heißt, für seine Träume zu kämpfen, welche Umwege das Leben manchmal geht und auch, dass das Leben uns stärker macht und wir nicht aufgeben sollten, um nicht zu verpassen, was noch kommt.Kyo likes to draw, he’s a manga artist and a very talented one. Kyo is to spend a whole year with his grandmother, four seasons and he’s not impressed. At first he resents living with Ayako, she’s clever and makes a lazy Kyo accompany her on her daily walks, gets him away from his phone they start to talk and he meets other residents of Onomichi. Four Seasons in Japan gently covers so many different issues but not in a preachy way. It beautifully weaves in proverbs and has dazzling quotes. Surprisingly moving ... This is a novel that occupies multiple worlds in multiple ways ... a postmodern riddle while also making for an emotionally engaging story ... there's something here for everyone. The Times

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