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THE NAKANO THRIFT SHOP ~ HIROMI KAWAKAMI (translated by: Allison Markin Powell)

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BLURB: When Hitomi takes a job on the cash register of a neighbourhood thrift store, she finds herself drawn into a very idiosyncratic community. There is Mr Nakano, an enigmatic ladies' man with several ex-wives; Masayo, Mr Nakano's sister, an artist who has never married; and her fellow employee Takeo, a shy but charming young man. And every day, customers from the neighbourhood pass in and out as curios are bought and sold, each one containing its own surprising story. When Hitomi and Takeo begin to fall for one another, they find themselves in the centre of their own drama - and on the edges of many others.







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BOOK REVIEW

Genre: FICTION

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Personal Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 15.5/20












This story was like drinking cool water after a scorching hot day. Instantly refreshing and infinitely soothing. The story flows slowly and is revealed carefully layer by layer. We primarily follow four characters: Mr Nakano, (the owner of the thrift store) Masayo, his older unmarried sister who is an artist. And his two employees, Hitomi and Takeo. Each chapter revolves around an object in the thrift store or a customer. As their stories are revealed we, we get an insight into one of our four main characters thoughts and motivations. It was a very interesting way to have the story be told. It almost felt like each chapter was a short story in itself, exploring the ideas, of love, loss, loneliness and what that means to each of our characters.


The characters themselves were hard to decipher. Hitomi and Takeo were reserved and uncommunicative. Both seemed to using their jobs at the thrift store to hide away from life. Takeo from the trauma of his past and Hitomi from moving out of her comfort zone. Mr Nakano was an interestingly odd character, a serial cheater, who had a strange aversion to calling his second hand goods antiques. Masayo was a wonderful character, a woman in her 50s who felt no desire to conform to what is expected of her. She is an artist with a "live in Partner" (much to their aunts dismay) with little regard for ''propriety'' or respect of others. She was an admirable character, and through her I feel Hitomi learns alot of life lessons.


I really enjoyed the writing style and credit needs to be paid to Allison Markin Powell, who translated this Japanese work into English. The pacing was just right and the stories though felt like individual pearls by the end they had been turned into a beautiful and timeless necklace. The prose was beautiful and charming.


I enjoyed this book immensely, the slower pace was refreshing and the prose was beautiful in its simplicity.

* this book was gifted to me for my honest opinion by Granta books and Tandem Collective UK


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