The Travelling Cat Chronicles: The uplifting million-copy bestselling Japanese translated story
Hiro Arikawa's translated Japanese novel is one of those rare books that sneaks up on you. It's gentle, funny, and then suddenly, unexpectedly, it isn't. Nana is a sharp-eyed, self-assured cat riding shotgun in his owner Satoru's silver van, content simply to be close to the person he loves most. He doesn't question where they're headed. Satoru, for his part, isn't saying. What unfolds is a series of visits to old friends from Satoru's past, set against Japan's shifting seasons, each stop quietly revealing something more about who these two are to each other. The narration carries an unusual warmth and dry wit, much of it filtered through Nana's feline perspective, which is both amusing and surprisingly affecting. Beneath the lightness, though, runs a current of something deeper. This is a story about friendship, about solitude, about the particular courage it takes to give something up. It asks, without ever lecturing, what it means to love someone well. Readers have described it as uplifting and heartbreaking in the same breath, the kind of book that leaves you in tears while somehow filling you with hope. The Sunday Telegraph called it 'bewitching', and that feels about right. It's a short, absorbing read, perfect for a weekend afternoon, and it will stay with you considerably longer than you might expect.
- Author: Hiro Arikawa
- Publisher: Doubleday
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- ISBN: 978-0857524195
- Pages: 272 pages