Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is the third installment in the beloved Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. Translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, this novel continues the series’ exploration of time travel’s emotional depths within the setting of a unique café.

Set in Café Donna Donna on the hillside of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, the story introduces four new patrons, each seeking a chance to revisit pivotal moments in their past

• A daughter harboring resentment towards her deceased parents for leaving her orphaned.

• A comedian yearning for his lost love and their unfulfilled dreams.

• A younger sister overwhelmed by grief.

• A young man who realizes his love for his childhood friend too late.

The café offers its customers the extraordinary experience of traveling through time, but with specific rules: the journey must occur while seated in a particular chair, the traveler can only meet people who have visited the café, and they must return before their coffee gets cold.

Through these narratives, Kawaguchi delves into themes of love, loss, regret, and the human desire for closure, all wrapped in his signature heartwarming and wistful storytelling.