Mina's Matchbox

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life. While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pet pygmy hippo. Equally beguiling are Tomokos relatives, especially her cousin Mina. Their growing friendship draws her into an intoxicating world one full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling. Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, Minas Matchbox is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse. 'Beguiling' New Yorker Beautifully composed Financial Times Effervescent New York Times Book Review Transfixing Time 'I read Minas Matchbox like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end' Ruth Ozeki