Beautiful Distance

Before the hospital, we had often raised our hands towards each other as we’d gone through life together.

A man sits in a cafe, sipping a green juice and watching the world go by. A white butterfly flutters through the air; a calico cat jumps onto a wall; cherry blossom petals fall, softly, to the ground. Life, momentarily, stands still. Our unnamed narrator is preparing to visit his terminally ill wife in hospital.

A prize-winning bestseller in Japan, Beautiful Distance is a profoundly affecting and intimate story that looks with honesty and tenderness at the journey towards the end of a life. It explores what family means, how we think about death, and the power of quiet acts of love.

‘Razor-sharp emotional intelligence beneath a prose style that is as refreshing, as, well, a Diet Coke on a hot summer’s day . . . Pack[s] a devastatingly emotional wallop.’ Crack Magazine

‘Readers will cry, and smile, and hold their family close.’ Sarah Jessica Parker

‘Beautiful Distance is a gem of a book – tender, devastating, and beautifully written, it speaks of the experience of caring and love in their purest forms, in a way that touched me deeply. It will stay with me for a long time.’ Cecile Pin

‘Quietly moving, sad, surprising . . . it all felt so true to life.’ Sharlene Teo

‘Beautiful.’ Jessica Stanley