Four Seasons in Japan, Nick Bradley
Four Seasons in Japan, Nick Bradley
List: $15.75 | Sale: $11.03
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Four Seasons in Japan

Author: Nick Bradley

Narrator: Hanako Footman

Unabridged: 10 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/22/2023


Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin

Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life...

It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair's burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.

From the author of The Cat and the City, Four Seasons in Japan is a gorgeously crafted book-within-a-book about literature, purpose and what it is to belong.

©2023 Nick Bradley (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on November 12, 2023

Breathtakingly Spectacular! Best Book of 2023! Once in a while, a book finds you. While browsing Twitter, the cover of Four Season in Japan stopped me in my tracks. Sky blue. Japanese cherry blossoms. A cat. You see my first cat, Melville, is buried under a beautiful Japanese cherry tree. Sky blue is m......more

Goodreads review by Ceecee on May 22, 2023

3.5 rounded down It’s spring and cherry blossom season in Tokyo, Japan and yet American translator Flo Dunthorpe is in despair following the poor reception of her latest book translation. There’s another blow too as she is breaking up with her girlfriend who is going to live in the United States. Ho......more

Goodreads review by Charles on July 12, 2023

"'Oh to be a cat,' he says. 'They dream , but they don't let their dreams consume them. That's the thing about humans - we feel like we have to make our dreams real. And that's what causes us such joy and discontent.'" I absolutely adored this book. It's a gentle, reflective story within a story that......more

Goodreads review by Dadou on February 18, 2024

I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. One on side, I really enjoyed Kyo and Ayako’s story and how their relationship evolved throughout the book and how they learned from each other. However, I wish I could say I liked Flo’s part of the book but everytime we came back to her, I had a harder......more

Goodreads review by Rich on July 28, 2025

5 Stars. I did not have big expectations for this and out of the blue I found it to be quite amazing. I added to my favorites. The story setting is in Japan with two POV's. One is a young man Kyo and the other is a young woman Flo, their stories are intertwined in a clever way. Kyo has just failed his......more


Quotes

Surprisingly moving ... This is a novel that occupies multiple worlds in multiple ways ... a postmodern riddle while also making for an emotionally engaging story ... there's something here for everyone. The Times

Bradley builds a poignant, quiet and affecting novel full of love as well as loss. Observer

Transportive, mesmerising and beautiful, there is such a poignancy and tenderness to the story . . . written with lyrical prose that is emotive and warm. Every book worm would love this. Glamour

Heartwarming Cosmopolitan

Bradley has created an authentic sense of place, capturing the parochial intimacies and day-to-day rhythms of small-town life in Japan Literary Review

My favourite novel, a delight for lovers of Japan… Ingenious David Abulafia, TLS

A soulful story about Japanese culture, tradition and resilience Woman's Weekly

This is a gentle, tender and thoughtful book, exploring literature, love, human connection, Japanese culture and the disillusion of youth. It features beautiful imagery and is crafted in such a way that you want to savour every chapter. Culturefly

Four Seasons in Japan doubles as a love letter to Japanese culture, its landscape, and literature, exploring the comfort found in books and the (mis)understanding between generations. Country & Town House

This novel is like the waves of the Seto Inland Sea. Waves that calmly roll in and out, permeating the reader's heart and mind profoundly, and before you know it there's a rich high tide. Kyoko Nakajima, author of Things Remembered and Things Forgotten