Before the Coffee Gets Cold Review, Audacity Book Club
By Nic Daniels
Welcome back, audacious readers!
Hope you had great holidays and were able to get cozy with a book during your downtime. Last month, we got a glimpse of Mvskoke culture and life experiences of indigenous poet, Joy Harjo, in her memoir, Poet Warrior. Now, we’re traveling to the other side of the world to a Tokyo café for Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
In a strange coffee shop in a back alley of the city, customers have the chance to go back in time. However, there are a few stipulations: 1) You can only visit someone who’s been to the café, 2) you can’t change the present, 3) you must sit in a specific seat, 4) you cannot move from that seat, and 5) there’s a time limit. Specifically, you must drink the coffee that takes you back in time before it gets cold (See what the author did there?). For most, the rules are discouraging enough to ignore the offer, but for four women, it’s a life-altering opportunity.
I appreciate how Kawaguchi started off with a humorous story with Fumiko and her ex-boyfriend. It was a good way to set the stage for not only the different journeys we would explore but also the magical elements that are presented. I feel like Fumiko was a character meant to represent the reader the most, because we are all trying to figure out what the heck is going on! I also like how, in the end, she didn’t have the perfect speech when she confronted her ex. She didn’t even really succeed in being completely honest with him. She just tried to be more open, and, in turn, he was more open. That small change led to closure.
Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me is how each person received closure by changing one small behavior or mistake in their past. For example, there’s Kohtake taking back her married name instead of shrinking herself under her maiden name in fear of making her husband’s Alzheimer’s worse. This also shows in Hirai’s story with her sister. When her sister, Kumi, dies and Hirai makes a promise to run the family business, something she’s avoided for years out of rebellion. It’s comforting to see that change makes her happy and how she thrives at it. In both situations, it shows that sometimes the thing you avoid the most can actually make you the happiest, if you let it.
When I tell you this book almost made me cry a few times, my goodness (for context, I do not cry easily with books)! I wouldn’t be surprised if most people classified this as a sad book, but I wouldn’t necessarily agree. It’s bittersweet in a lot of ways but there’s always a lightness to the prose. The details force you to slow down while the story gives you a full view of what’s happening in every moment. You become a guest in these character’s lives that is rare in most books. It lets you breathe with the story, it’s revelations, and I think that’s what we’ve all needed this year.
Hope you enjoyed this wonderful read. I would love to hear your thoughts about this book and what you would do if you could go back in time until the coffee went cold. Who would you see? What would you change?
As we begin 2022, I want to say thank you to all of the book club members! Can’t wait to share more great books with you all this year. Look out for the Book Club Recap THIS SATURDAY on all Audacity platforms. As always, don’t forget to read audaciously.
