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The Menu of Happiness

Tuck Into the Uplifting and Moving Japanese Bestseller Perfect for Food Lovers

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The Menu of Happiness

Written by: Hisashi Kashiwai
Narrated by: Hanako Footman
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About this listen

Beautifully read by Hanako Footman, actress and narrator of Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley and Butter by Asako Yuzuki.

The Menu of Happiness, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the third book in the bestselling, delightful Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Welcome to the Kamogawa Diner, where every meal is a mystery ready to be solved. This unique establishment is run by a father–daughter duo who offer more than just mouth-watering meals. They act as ‘food detectives’, delving into the past to produce nostalgia-infused dishes for their hungry clientele.

Among the patrons is a once-renowned pianist whose promising career was marred by a self-inflicted injury. She longs to taste the yakisoba shared with the only man she ever truly loved. The diner also welcomes a man haunted by shadows of regret. His mind races back to the gyoza served by the parents of a lover he once jilted, as he seeks understanding and, perhaps, forgiveness.

The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve food – it revives the essence of forgotten recipes and rejuvenates cherished memories. Each dish is a portal to the past, serving not just sustenance but solace and reconnection through the miracle of delicious food. The Menu of Happiness follows on from The Kamogawa Food Detectives and The Restaurant of Lost Recipes.

‘Feel-good and foodie themes collide in this follow-up to The Kamogawa Food Detectives’ - The Times

The Menu of Happiness was a Japanese bestseller when it published w/c 04/01/2016

 Amateur Sleuth Cosy Culinary Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths World Literature

Critic Reviews

Feel-good and foodie themes collide in this follow-up to The Kamogawa Food Detectives (The Times on The Restaurant of Lost Recipes)
Kashiwai is among a certain coterie of Japanese writers to have perfected a globally successful literary formula: create a cafe-esque setting with beloved staff who deliver plenty of empathic kindness to customers whose visits inspire standalone narratives . . . Deliciousness lingers (Booklist on The Restaurant of Lost Recipes)
This cosy book delights in Japanese cuisine (Kirkus on The Restaurant of Lost Recipes)
A treasure-trove of positivity and charm (Prima on The Restaurant of Lost Recipes)
In addition to tantalizing recipes, the narrative is driven by the desire to recapture lost love, reconcile with a parent or relive one’s youth. Ingredients and items are lovingly detailed . . . The equivalent of delightful comfort food (Library Journal on The Restaurant of Lost Recipes)
Like sights and sounds, tastes are also deeply connected to one’s memories. The depictions of the beautiful scenery of Kyoto and its native dishes, which are like the original landscape of Japan, warmed my heart (Genki Kawamura, author of If Cats Disappeared from the World, on The Kamogawa Food Detectives)
Author Hisashi Kashiwai shows a tremendous amount of empathy for his characters as well as a gentle humour. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll open a delivery app
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