The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

The best-selling book in 21 countries on loss, bereavement, and the happiness of surviving was influenced by a real phone booth in Japan that had a disconnected "wind" phone and was used as a site of solace and pilgrimage ever since the 2011 tsunami.

Yui starts to record the passing of time from the moment she loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami: Everything revolves around March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami devastated Japan and her life was consumed by grief. Yui fights to go on while experiencing her agony alone.

She then learns one day of a man who has an ancient, abandoned phone booth in his garden. Those who have lost loved ones find the courage to talk to them and start processing their loss there. People from miles around come to the phone booth as word of it gets out.

Yui soon makes the phone booth her own personal trip. Once there, though, she finds it difficult to talk into the receiver. Upon her arrival, she discovers Takeshi, a grieving spouse whose daughter has ceased communicating following her mother's passing.

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World is both tragic and heartwarming at the same time, and it serves as a signpost for the potential for healing.