Moshi Moshi

This novel of a young Japanese girl grieving her father is “an unlikely, engrossing Tokyo ghost story . . . You won’t be able to take your mind off it” (Marie Claire).

Yoshie’s much-loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimokitazawa, a traditional Tokyo neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents, that they can finally start to put their painful past behind them. But despite their attempts to move forward, Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind on the day he died, or in which she is trying—unsuccessfully—to call him. Is her dead father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams?

With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing, Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming-of-age ghost story and a life-affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.

“An intimate portrayal of grief and recovery . . . Yoshimoto’s beautiful imagery—the cherry tree in front of the Les Liens bistro where Yochan works, restaurants glowing late at night, the coziness among the restaurant staff members, all captures the spirit of Shimokitazawa and marks Yochan’s slow return to an anchored life.” —Booklist

“Yoshimoto has an effortless ability to penetrate her characters’ hearts.” —The New York Times