A Tale for the Time Being
Viking
In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.
New York Times Bestseller
Awards
Booker Prize shortlist
Indies Choice Awards finalist
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2013 UK Independent Booksellers Award
Kitschies’ Red Tentacle
PEN Open Book Award nominee
Best of Year
Good Housekeeping
Goodreads
Top Monthly
Barnes & Nobles
Costco/Pennie’s Picks
Indie Next