Kakigori Summer
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Kakigori Summer
Narrated by:
Ami Okumura Jones
Buy Now for £17.94
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Narrated by:
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Ami Okumura Jones
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By:
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Emily Itami
Eldest daughter Rei is spiky and sensible, consumed by her London finance job. Big-hearted Kiki is a single mother, working in a Tokyo retirement home. The free-spirited youngest, Ai, is a Japanese pop idol who has found fame and fortune - until a scandal spins her life into chaos . . .
Together, the three sisters retreat to the remote seaside town where they grew up. But returning home means facing the long shadow of their mother's death, and the lives they've built without each other.
Transporting, funny and moving, Kakigori Summer is an uplifting exploration of love, loss, and finding your way home.©2025 Emily Itami
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Critic reviews
I adore Emily Itami's writing . . . Kakigori Summer is a novel about belonging, both within a family and the wider world, and I loved retreating into its cocoon of sibling humour as the sisters briefly stepped back to discover their place in it. Cosy, dreamy, although you're never too far from a line that's sharply astute (FLORENCE KNAPP, author of THE NAMES)
I loved Kakigori Summer . . . The sisters felt completely real, my sympathies finely balanced between all three of them and their different internal struggles were beautifully and poignantly evoked . . . I loved the well-crafted prose, the distinctive, slightly acerbic turns of phrase . . . joyful and uplifting too: the romantic and hopeful ending felt just right (KATE MURRAY-BROWNE, author of ONE GIRL BEGAN)
A sensory journey through a summer on the Japanese coast and into the very corners of the hearts of sisters Rei, Kiki and Ai. It's wonderful (KATE SAWYER, author of THIS FAMILY)
Deliciously acerbic and very funny. This is the most perfect book to see you through your own summer and I couldn't have loved it more (MARIANNE LEVY, author of DON'T FORGET TO SCREAM)
This novel had me hooked from the first chapter. Three sisters, Japan, the complexities of family bonds, love and loss. I got totally immersed in their lives. It's funny and insightful and poignant and uplifting . . . And a rare accolade - the most excellent and satisfying ending! (KAREN ANGELICO, author of EVERYTHING WE ARE)
An inviting and wistful tale of three sisters who reunite during a crisis . . . Itami strikes just the right chord, showing how the sisters indulge their nostalgia for happier times even as they attempt to reckon with their painful memories. Readers are in for a treat
Itami's voice is sharp, funny, and deeply empathetic, weaving together wit and poignancy in a character-driven narrative that feels fresh, heartfelt, and painfully real (Booklist)
A bittersweet and wry family drama for fans of Sally Rooney
Funny, gentle and warm, though Itami's sentences are never fluffy. And it contains one of the best descriptions of overthinking I've ever read (Florence Knapp)
Beautifully crafted . . . This is your hot tip: take it and get comfortable on your hols (Emma Barnett)
Emily Itami's Kakigori Summer balances the light and the dark in a way I love. There is a real psychological insight into the way the three sisters all have such different reactions to their mother's death . . . the nostalgia of the setting is done so well. I was on the beach with those sisters, experiencing the moments of joy when they start to heal from the emotional damage of the past (Georgina Moore)
Wonderful, immersive listen
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