The regulars at Café Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with the whimsical ability it grants them to take a trip into the past—as well as the strict rules involved, including that each traveler must return to the present in the time it takes for their coffee to get cold. In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s previous novels, patrons have been reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family and visited loved ones. Now readers will once again be introduced to a new set of visitors.
In Last Chance to Say Goodbye, which is translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot and features signature heartwarming characters and wistful storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: What would you change if you could travel back in time?
- Title: Before We Say Goodbye
- Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (Translator)
- Publisher: Hanover Square Press
- Publication Date: November 14, 2023
- Genre: Fantasy
- Source: Digital ARC via Netgalley
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: grief, death of a parent, death of a loved one, pet loss
- Rating: ★★★★★
As someone who loved the first three Before the Coffee Gets Cold books, I jumped at the opportunity to read Before We Say Goodbye early. And to no one’s surprise, I cried just as much as I did while reading the first three books, if not more. I reviewed the first three books last year, in case you missed it!
The Before the Coffee Gets Cold series takes place in a magical, time-traveling cafe in Tokyo, called Café Funiculi Funicula. While it appears to be an ordinary cafe, one seat is occupied by a ghost at all times — except for when she gets up to use the bathroom once a day. While she’s gone, visitors have the chance to travel in time to visit someone who has been to that very cafe before — with the caveat that they return before their coffee gets cold. If they return too late, then they’ll be cursed to be the next cafe ghost.
There are four short stories in Before We Say Goodbye. The first, titled “The Husband with Something Important Left To Say” follows a husband who is too caught up with work to spend time with his loved ones, until it’s too late. The second, “The Woman Who Couldn’t Bid Her Dog Farewell” is about a woman who feels immensely guilty for her dog passing away while she was asleep, and tries to travel back to apologize. The third story, “The Woman Who Couldn’t Answer a Proposal” is centered around a woman unable to commit to a proposal, only to realize later that she was too late. And lastly, “The Daughter Who Drove Her Father Away” is loosely based off of a real story.
To no one’s surprise, “The Woman Who Couldn’t Bid Her Dog Farewell” was the one that got to me the hardest — I was sobbing so hard that my dog, Toto, woke up from his sleep and tried to comfort me. While most of the stories in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series revolve around grief and loss, this was the first one where a pet was involved, and also was the one that hit me the hardest.
In all honesty, I’m pretty sure that I missed out on some minor links between all four books, just because it’s been so long since I’ve read the first three, but I don’t think that it detracted from my enjoyment of the book at all. If anything, I think I was able to enjoy Before We Say Goodbye even more, because I didn’t think the other stories were repetitive — whereas if I had read all four books back to back, I think the themes around grief and regret, and the stories could’ve gotten to be a little repetitive.
Overall, if you’re looking for a good cry, if you’d like to read more translated works, or if you just want to read some short stories, I couldn’t recommend Before We Say Goodbye more highly — just make sure you have some tissues on you!
Links for Before We Say Goodbye: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop.org
