What readers think of The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World, plus links to write your own review.

This story is based upon a true story of the wind telephone in Otsuchi, Japan, built by a gentleman upon the loss of his cousin as a way to deal with his grief. The location of this phone booth is a windy piece of land, thereby lifting your words off into the wind. The cover art and the story premise had me from the beginning and I was not disappointed.

This was a very quick read and I very much appreciated the extras thrown in to give more texture to the story, such as the playlist for the radio show, where Yui worked , on the night the gentleman called in to share about this phone booth, or what Yui’s mother and daughter were wearing on the day of the tsunami.

This story is basically about loss and coping, caring for others, finding one’s way out of grief into love and hope again. Dealing with loss is so very personal and having the wonderful phone booth as a healing device was very special for so many of the characters in this story.

This book was exactly what I needed at this time and I do think it will touch so many as we all deal with loss in many ways throughout our lives.

I was moved to tears on more than one occasion as I read the phone booth at the edge of the world. I needed the reminder that after the storm, after the wind, after the loss, there is still room for love, room for hope. It's one of those beautiful reads that ended too soon!

When the tsunami of March 11, 2011 swept Japan's coast it left behind tremendous grief in the forms of lost lives. The title of this book is what caught my interest immediately. I was not disappointed in choosing and reading this book. It addresses the questions we all have how to deal we our personal grief. But it opens our perspective that there is no one right way to grieve. Relief and a degree of solace is attained for all who trek the mount that has the telephone booth connected to nothing but what the caller says and receives in their conversations with their dear dead loved ones.

This book tells a gentle and powerful story that is still with me days after finishing it. Set in Japan after the 2011 tsunami, it centers around a real phone booth with an unconnected phone in a Japanese garden. According to an introductory note, every year thousands come to use the phone and speak with those they have lost. The main characters, Yui and Takeshi, each grieving the loss of loved ones, meet at the phone booth and come to know others who are grief-stricken. The book asks fundamental questions: how is it possible to live with joy when everything comes to an end? How can we learn to live with those we loved who have died? The answers suggested by the story are profound, deeply moving and, perhaps most importantly, hopeful. This is a perfect book to read during our current and tragic times.

As each human processes a loss of a beloved person, Grief changes its face. One can feel sadness, anger, pain, denial, and even fear, culminating, hopefully, in acceptance. In Laura Imai Messina's novel  "the phone booth at the edge of the world,"  main character Yui struggles with her own losses, and her seemingly unending grief. She is not alone, however, as others she meets have their own personal, yet similar, journeys to walk. In heartfelt, unique chapters, Messina creates characters who sensitively display how feelings of loss are encountered, dealt with, and shared. Moreover, Ms Messina shows how death and grief can lead to acceptance and hope. 
More so now, I wish I could find a phone booth....

Great book! I read this book in a very short time. A great story of recent history. I was captured by how human this story was. From tragedy to hope it carries you on a journey of the human soul. It shows how grief is a personal thing for each one of us. The characters are nondescript but each one carries a different message of hope and dealing with everyday life through tragic events. A very touching story of love, companionship, community and the power of the human spirit. This would definitely be a great book for book clubs.

This book is beautifully written! It's easy for the reader to become immersed in the deep feelings and concerns of the many who made the journey to Bell Gardia where there was a telephone booth on a very windy mountain. It was believed that by talking on the phone, the wind would carry your words to their loved ones lost in the Tsunami or in the case of some- just to argue. Yui who lost her mother and daughter met Takeshi whose wife had died. Through her grief yet her love for him and his small daughter she began to live for the future and not live in the past. I loved it!

This is a story about one man's very inventive idea of providing a "wind phone" to reach lost loved ones. Yurt and Takeshita were two people who benefited from this phone booth at the edge of the world. Both characters were able to find "the joy that resides within unhappiness" and pass on that knowledge to those around them. It is a simple story, well written and satisfying.