The Lantern of Lost Memories, by Sanaka Hiiragi - Jenny
The hands and pendulum of the old wooden clock on the wall were motionless. Hirasaka cocked his head to listen, but the silence inside the photo studio was almost deafening.
His leather shoes sank softly into the aging red carpet as he strode over to the arrangement of flowers on the counter and carefully adjusted the angle of the petals.
The Lantern of Lost Memories revolves around Mr Hirasaki’s photo studio, a gateway from death to the afterlife. The photo studio gives those who have recently departed a chance to look back at their lives through photographs, one for each day of their life, and travel back to the time of one significant photo to take it again.
I found this an incredibly moving book. You follow three people as they move to the afterlife, learning all about their lives, the people they met, and most importantly, their most cherished memories. Mr Hirasaki also has a story which evolves throughout the book as he guides his guests through this last step.
The three characters we follow are all completely different (no spoilers here - I found meeting them each with no foreknowledge important to my reading enjoyment) meaning the book keeps you engaged, despite the formulaic nature of what happens at the photo studio.
Obviously with this subject matter emotions are high and I should warn you that I was in floods of tears at points while reading this, but despite that I was left with an enormous sense of warmth when I finished.
Read this if you enjoyed the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi or The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
Jenny (@budgetbooklover)
