Lonely Castle in the Mirror
The no. 1 Japanese bestseller and Guardian 2021 highlight
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4.4 • 31 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
For fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, fairy tale and magic are weaved together in sparse language that belies a flooring emotional punch.
'Strange and beautiful. Imagine the offspring of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle with The Virgin Suicides' GUARDIAN
'Genuinely affecting. A story of empathy, collaboration and sharing truths' FINANCIAL TIMES
Translated by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami
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Would you share your deepest secrets to save a friend?
In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find their bedroom mirrors are shining.
At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways, watchful portraits and twinkling chandeliers. In this new sanctuary, they are confronted with a set of clues leading to a hidden room where one of them will be granted a wish. But there's a catch: if they don't leave the castle by five o'clock, they will be punished.
As time passes, a devastating truth emerges: only those brave enough to share their stories will be saved.
Tender, playful, gripping, LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR is a mesmerizing tale about the importance of reaching out, confronting anxiety and embracing human connection.
Readers love LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR:
***** 'This book has become one of my favourite Japanese reads of all time . . . A magical heartfelt read that will stay with you'
***** 'Unexpected, beautiful and heart-breaking . . . this is a work of fiction which reaches into the heart of a modern problem and has valuable insight'
***** 'Rich and vivid.This book is a symbol that 'there is always hope'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alice in Wonderland meets The Breakfast Club in this stunning outing from Tsujimura (Anime Supremacy), beautifully translated by Gabriel. Seventh grader Kokoro Anzai is bullied so badly that she drops out of Yukishina No. 5 Junior High School and can't bring herself to attend the alternative school, "Kokoro no kyoshitsu" (or "Classroom for the Heart"), selected by her parents. Instead, Kokoro escapes during the school day into the other side of her glowing bedroom mirror. There she finds a Western fairy tale castle run by the Wolf Queen, a girl in a pinafore dress and a wolf mask, who has brought Kokoro and six other children to her realm on a special quest: whoever finds a key to a "wishing room" will have their wish granted—and Kokoro's wish is to make her bullies disappear. Gabriel does an excellent job of contextualizing Japanese honorifics for a Western audience and explaining character names as the story unfolds gently and satisfyingly, offering sensitively drawn portraits of suffering teenagers whom the regular school system has failed. This sweet, kindhearted, and deeply sympathetic magical realist novel about middle school dropouts pulling each other back from the brink will resonate with readers of all ages.
