Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Woman's Life in Nineteenth-Century Japan

An unassuming café in Tokyo is shrouded in modern folklore because from there it is believed visitors can travel in time. There are strict rules clearly defined at the beginning of the book: visitors cannot leave the café when they time travel; they can’t change circumstances in the present and they only have until their cup of coffee goes cold.

This quickly establishes the book as a time travel narrative like no other, there’s no looming panic about changing the course of history. Instead it’s a collection of life affirming tales from four visitors who travel in time bound by love for their partners, their sister or the daughter they never got to meet. The visitors, knowing they can’t change the present, travel to communicate more clearly, to see each other one last time, or to apologise.

A gentle and beautifully told novel that feels complete and will stay with you for a while after you’ve read it, and will offer opportunity to reflect over your next cup of coffee.

Having always had her nose buried in a book, Cathy Rentzenbrink is someone whose life beyond that of her imagination ought to be nothing much to write home about. However, as anyone who has read her bestselling memoir The Last Act of Love will know, the tragic death of her brother Matty was an event that profoundly affected her – and continues to do so. What’s more, although it could never quell the pain, chronicling that awful experience also confirmed her as an exceptional memoirist, with the ability to recount stories of her life with style and panache.

In Dear Reader, Rentzenbrink canters through her whole life to date, punctuating her experiences (including the time around Matty’s accident) with many of the books she read along the way. It’s a wonderfully engaging device, leaving readers with another captivating memoir and a stunningly diverse list of books to turn to in good times or bad.

When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten has everything you want in a story. It has a deep sense of place, characters that you completely believe in, and a mystery that pulls at you all the way through. I read it cover to cover in one night.

The story is set in a small village in Jamaica where we meet Clara and her friends, living a seemingly normal life, apart from that Clara can’t remember anything that happened the previous Summer. Throughout the book we get hints at what could have happened and as a new girl, Rudy, arrives from England things start to change.

Reusable stainless steel water bottle engraved with the Festival logo