The Heartbeat Library

A grieving man forges an unexpected friendship with a young boy in this gentle novel from Messina (The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World). Picture book illustrator Maeda Shūichi returns from Tokyo to Kamakura after his mother’s death to prepare her house for sale. There, he catches eight-year-old Kenta rummaging through his mother’s things, and learns the boy spent his afternoons with Shūichi’s mother to escape his tense home life. Shūichi agrees to let Kenta keep visiting the house and protects him from bullies. Meanwhile, Kenta shares with Shūichi glimpses of a livelier side to his mother, who overprotected him as a boy due to his heart murmur. On a trip to Tokyo with Kenta, Shūichi reveals to Sayaka, a mortician he keeps bumping into around town and feels a spark with, that his own son drowned two years before and that his marriage fell apart as a result. Shūichi and Kenta then visit an art installation in Naoshima called the Archives of Heartbeats, which collects recordings of people’s heartbeats. There, Shūichi is met with a surprise, prompting him to offer Kenta a more meaningful role in his life. The story is a bit simplistic, but Messina’s light touch allows for genuine moments of connection between the characters. This brims with feeling. (Oct.)