{"product_id":"minas-matchbox","title":"Mina's Matchbox","description":"Condition: BRAND NEW\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781529933536\u003cbr\u003eFormat: B-format paperback\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2025\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: RANDOM HOUSE UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003eA story of friendship and family secrets in 1970s Japan, from the prizewinning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Memory Police\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I read \u003ci\u003eMina's Matchbox\u003c\/i\u003e like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end.' \u003cb\u003eRUTH OZEKI, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Form and Emptiness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 1970s are bringing changes to Japan and her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion opens up a new and unfamiliar world for Tomoko; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pygmy hippo the family keeps as a pet. Tomoko finds her relatives equally exotic and beguiling and her growing friendship with her cousin Mina draws her into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRich with the magic and mystery of youth, \u003ci\u003eMina's Matchbox \u003c\/i\u003eis an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eMina's Matchbox\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eDreamy and whimsical,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eMina's Matchbox\u003c\/i\u003e traffics in the themes at which Ogawa always excels- memory, identity, and nostalgia' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEsquire, \u003c\/i\u003eBest Books of the Summer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A conspicuously gifted writer. . . To read Ogawa is to enter a dreamlike state. . . She possesses an effortless, glassy, eerie brilliance' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Evokes the secret crushes and crushing secr\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"RANDOM HOUSE","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":41502819778693,"sku":"PR399370","price":38.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0213\/3637\/files\/image_TNXFDVF8V1WZ.jpg?v=1769500498","url":"https:\/\/smartfoxbooks.co.nz\/products\/minas-matchbox","provider":"Smartfox Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}