Jennie Jacques Instagram – #beforethecoffeegetscold #bookreview – A unique story! I liked it. My instinct? Prob work better as a script/stage play rather than a book. Oh OK, just researched the author – Toshikazu Kawaguchi (in Japanese: 川口 俊 和) is a playwright, theatre director & producer; makes sense! Loss, acceptance & letting go are the main concepts. There are 4 stories/acts, told one after the other, taking place within an unsuspecting cafe in Tokyo! The fact it’s so confined, is partly why I visualised it as a piece of theatre. A set designer could really have fun creating “Funiculi Funicula” – the coffee shop – & maybe even brew real coffee for the audience members?! With a magical twist, the customers, if they do so wish, can embrace the opportunity to time-travel 🕰️ ♥️ on one of the chairs 🪑 BUT with a few obscure (yet clearly spelled out!) “rules” – which might put someone off bothering 😂 such as, & in no particular order… You can’t actually leave the cafe & (more specifically) you cannot get up from the seat you’re sat in! You MUST come back to the present BEFORE THE COFFEE ☕️ gets cold 🙃 & (perhaps the most unappealing?) under NO circumstances are you ever actually able to change your own or anyone else’s FATE. So, ya might think well what’s the point? On top of all of that, a bloody GHOST occupies the seat, so you gotta wait for her to need the loo, before you can travel. It’s quirky & unusual but deals with very human emotions at its core making it easy to connect to. Events of our past affect how we respond in the present 🤔 Although a death is final & an illness such as Alzheimer’s (in the book) remains incurable – “returning” to the past can alter the heart ❤️ & perhaps aid the way in which someone heals, thereafter, moving forward… talking of forward… towards the end of the book it is revealed one can also travel into the future, with another set of rules & regulations. Rather than give a brief synopsis of the characters & their personal journeys, I encourage you to go read the book with an open mind. If you have experienced loss/trauma it may just provide a whimsical albeit welcomed perspective #bookstagram 💥 ☕️