Books like A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
In Tokyo, sixteen‑year‑old Nao is haunted by bullying and solitude, yet before she turns to despair she begins a diary about her great‑grandmother, a Buddhist nun who has lived more than a century. The diary becomes her only refuge. Far across the Pacific, on a secluded island, a novelist finds artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox; these items pull her into Nao’s story and the unknown fate of the teenage girl.
The novel interweaves a contemporary Tokyo setting with Buddhist tradition and the distant voice of a novelist, exploring themes of grief, identity and the power of testimony across cultures and generations.
First publish date: 2013
Genre: Literary Fiction/Contemporary Literary Fiction
Authors: Ruth Ozeki
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4.2 (15 community ratings)
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