Play Book Tag discussion

Sentara is a young man working off a debt by running a confection shop. He makes and sells a confection based on sweet bean paste. But since he's not very good at it, sales are low and he's likely to never pay off his debt.

An elderly and disabled woman, Tokue, appears repeatedly at his shop asking for work. He turns her down repeatedly - the work is heavy and she's clearly not strong. Then she shares a sample of her homemade bean paste and he agrees to hire her.

Her bean paste is so amazing, the fortunes of the small shop are completely turned around, with more customers than Sentara can handle.

The first half of the book takes place entirely inside the shop. In the second half we learn the exact nature of Tokue's disability and the entire story shifts focus.

I was genuinely surprised at the turn this book took. It was a sweet and gentle story, suddenly turned social commentary.

I've got this on my list to listen soon, Sue, looking forward to this!

I loved this seemingly simple book. It became my new favorite Japanese book (after the Professor and the Housekeeper). It might have made my top 10 last year. I really liked the characters and the topics. It was relaxing and I learned something new too. I wish I could find other books by this author in English.

My review
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I just noticed that there is a movie as well!