Book
Mina's matchbox / Yoko Ogawa ; translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder.
"In the spring of 1972, twelve-year-old Tomoko leaves her mother behind in Tokyo and boards a train alone for Ashiya, a coastal town in Japan, to stay with her aunt's family. Tomoko's aunt is an enigma and an outlier in her working-class family, and her magnificent home -- and handsome, foreign husband, the president of a soft drink company -- are symbols of that status. ... The family is just as beguiling as their mansion -- Tomoko's dignified and devoted aunt, her German grandmother, and her dashing, charming uncle who confidently sits as the family's patriarch. At the center of the family is Tomoko's cousin Mina, a precocious, asthmatic girl of thirteen who draws Tomoko into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling. In this elegant jewel box of a book, Yoko Ogawa invites us to witness a powerful and formative interlude in Tomoko's life, which she looks back on briefly from adulthood at the novel's end"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780771019890 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 280 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: Hardcover edition.
- Publisher: Toronto, ON : McClelland & Stewart, 2024.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally published in serialized form in Japan as Mina no Koshin by Yomiuri Shimbun in 2005. Originally published in (trade paperback) in Japan as Mina no Koshin by Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc., Tokyo, in 2006. |
| Language Note: | Translated from the Japanese. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Cousins > Fiction. Families > Fiction. Friendship > Fiction. Mansions > Fiction. Pygmy hippopotamus > Fiction. Storytelling > Fiction. Ashiya-shi (Japan) > Fiction. Japan > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Historical fiction. Bildungsromans. Domestic fiction. Novels. |
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | FIC Ogawa | 31681010385490 | FICTION | Available | - |
- Random House, Inc.
Named a Best Book of 2024 by Kirkus Reviews and NPR â¢Â One of Indigo's Top 100 Books of 2024 ⢠One of Oprah Dailyâs Best New Novels of Fall ⢠One of Timeâs Best New Books to Read This Summer ⢠A Most Anticipated Book of the Summer from the Globe and Mail, The Atlantic, TIME, Boston Globe, Esquire, Lit Hub, Bustle, and Publishers Weekly ⢠One of Kobo CA's Best Historical Fiction Ebooks of 2024
From the International Booker Prizeâshortlisted author of The Memory Police comes a hypnotic tale of friendship, family secrets, and coming of age set in 1970s Japan.
In the spring of 1972, after the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent by her mother to live for a year with her wealthy aunt and uncle. It is a year that will change her life.
Her auntâs family lives in a magnificent colonial mansion surrounded by sprawling gardens and the remnants of an old zoo, where the familyâs pet pygmy hippopotamus still resides. The family is as beguiling as their home, but beneath their sophistication and charm lie darker undercurrents that Tomoko struggles to understandâher auntâs misery, her handsome foreign uncleâs curious absences, her German great-aunt's experience of the Second World War. At the centre of the family is Tomokoâs cousin Mina, a precocious asthmatic girl who draws Tomoko into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling, including the strange tales inspired by the illustrated matchboxes she collects beneath her bed. The two girls share confidences and enthusiasms, encounter heartache, and have their eyes opened to the workings of the adult world.
In this elegant jewel box of a book, Yoko Ogawa invites us to witness a powerful and formative interlude in Tomoko's life. Beautifully atmospheric, and rich with the mystery and magic of youthful experience, Minaâs Matchbox is a tenderly elegiac depiction of two girls poised on the brink of adulthood, and of a family on the edge of collapse.
