The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

A Novel

By: Laura Imai Messina

Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The international best-selling novel sold in 21 countries, about grief, mourning, and the joy of survival, inspired by a real phone booth in Japan with its disconnected “wind” phone, a place of pilgrimage and solace since the 2011 tsunami

When Yui loses both her mother and her daughter in the tsunami, she begins to mark the passage of time from that date onward: Everything is relative to March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami tore Japan apart, and when grief took hold of her life. Yui struggles to continue on, alone with her pain.

Then, one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone booth in his garden. There, those who have lost loved ones find the strength to speak to them and begin to come to terms with their grief. As news of the phone booth spreads, people travel to it from miles around.

Soon Yui makes her own pilgrimage to the phone booth, too. But once there she cannot bring herself to speak into the receiver. Instead she finds Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of her mother’s death.

Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is the signpost pointing to the healing that can come after.

* This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of reading group questions and a glossary from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Laura Imai Messina (P)2021 Random House Audio

Top Notch

Great story that was very well written. The author captured this story with words. Must read!

A Testament of Resilience following Trauma

After a traumatic event and while enduring traumatic grief, many of the people in this book discover their resiliency by listening to their sadness and love, memories and new challenges.
I am recommending this book to friends who can appreciate the journey of life.

Heart and depth

The author explores the depths of grief with words and ideas that thankfully replace common words like sadness, emptiness etc. The many characters continue to reveal their grief through the progression of their lives. This book has calmed and given me more ways to wrestle with my own grief.

A unique presentation of grief

The background for the story is real, which makes this novel even more engaging. Lovely characters desk with their distinctive griefs via the wind phone, providing a meditation on loss and acceptance.

For the Tsunami in Your Heart

If I could give this ten stars, I would. From the first few sentences through to the very end, I was overcome with emotions. I've never been in a tsunami. But I've been overcome with grief. Sharing the grief of those in the 2011 tsunami in Japan was a cleansing and healing thing for me. In America, it may be Hurricane Katrina or the string of killer tornadoes here in the south . . . or a thread of broken relationships that we have no control over. Over and over in this story of utter brokenness, come little beacons of light . . . tiny glimmers of hope . . . until at last, the crushed and withered can grasp enough hope to latch on to it and begin to rise back up. Don't miss this book. I will listen to it again and again. To remind myself that I can get back up and lay hold of LIFE.

You will cry

Great story, very relatable and realistic. Grief is hard and this book described the journey to recovery very well. I cried ugly at the end. Touching story

Thumbs up

I really enjoyed this book. Glad that it was recommended to me. Love to all who have passed.

Worth a listen

It had some good perspectives and wisdom on living after losing a loved one. I paused listening after about 3/4 of the book and then resumed a month or so later. I found it somewhat difficult to listen for so long every day after losing a loved one myself as many of the characters reflect on past times, but like I said, it does provide good comfort as well. I say it’s worth a listen!

Good standard love story

I liked the setting and the event that brought all the characters together. It was original. But the love story was pretty run of the mill.

Boring

I listened to the first third and just couldn’t get interested. Just not my type of book