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Four Seasons in Japan
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
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Publisher's summary
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.
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Jane Austen fan Amelia Bennett sneaks away from a dull tour of an English country manor, only to run into a man more dashing than Mr. Darcy himself. About to lose his ancestral home to family debts, charming aristocrat Tom Calder invites his American guest to join him in drinking his way through the estate’s priceless wine collection. But when they wake in his bed the next morning, they’re convinced that in their drunken haze they witnessed a murder. Problem is, the body has vanished and no one believes them.
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Fun rom-com mystery
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By: Brynn Kelly
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Verity
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Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
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intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
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The Justice
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Justice Beth Garner (Sanaa Lathan) just landed the appointment of a lifetime—a seat on the Supreme Court. Now a mysterious company is blackmailing her for her vote on a landmark case. Caught up in the checkered past of her hero and mentor, Chief Justice Clayton Erlenborn, Beth must cunningly maneuver through a dangerous web of secrets, deception, and cold-blooded murder. Armed with only her moral compass and unflinching nerve, she’s up against a sinister world full of undercover agents, domestic terrorists, and black ops assassins—all of whom want her to comply or die.
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One of the best
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The Crimes of Dorian Gray
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This gripping fictional true crime podcast delves into the story of the enigmatic Dorian Gray, a vigilante who changed the world, rewriting history in the blood of her victims. Her targets were the titans of their era—billionaires, movie stars, politicians. Dorian said they had one thing in common: they had all committed crimes against women. They were rapists, abusers, master manipulators. Dorian left evidence of their heinous offenses with their bodies, and then she vanished without a trace.
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The plot
- By Falfon K Smith Jr. on 04-24-24
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The Package
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Emma is the one that got away. The only survivor of a serial killer known in the tabloids as “The Hairdresser”, because of the trophies he takes from his victims. The police aren't convinced. Nor is her husband. She never actually saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognizes him in every man she sees. Haunted by the horrifying incident and unwanted notoriety, Emma gives up her job as a psychiatrist and retreats from the outside world to recuperate at home, where it’s quiet. Where she can be anonymous and safe. Where no one can hurt her.
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Twisted psychological trip!
- By Drea on 04-29-24
By: Sebastian Fitzek
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One of Us Is Dead
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Opulence. Sex. Betrayal…sometimes friendship can be deadly. Meet the women of Buckhead—a place of expensive cars, huge houses, and competitive friendships. Who amongst these women will be clever enough to survive Buckhead—and who will wind up dead? They say that friendships can be complex, but no one said it could ever be this deadly.
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Great mystery. Sexually graphic.
- By Sue on 09-04-22
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Too Late
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- By: Colleen Hoover
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Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
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Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
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What listeners say about Four Seasons in Japan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- Zach
- 04-09-24
Beautiful tale, setting, and narration
This kind of book is very far from my norm - I typically read nonfiction and especially histories (ironic, considering a particular scene in this book). I don't have a particular interest in Japan moreso than I do any other country. But I really enjoyed the narrator's vocal work in the video game Baldur's Gate 3, had a spare credit, and decided to see if she had done any audiobook narration on a whim. This book looked the most interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm very glad I did.
The overall, absolute bare-bones summary of this book, is perhaps nothing special. It's a story-within-a-story where both layers feature inherently depressed and listless characters doing their best under less than ideal circumstances. But what makes the story shine is just how well-crafted everything is. The outer, framing story, featuring translator Flo, is compelling enough to get you to sympathize with her as tries to work through her rut. But the inner story, a coming of age tale featuring 19 year old Kyo, born and raised in Tokyo, foisted upon his old-school grandmother Ayako in a provincial, mountainous town, is the real star.
Yes, Kyo sometimes acts like an idiot and makes several stupid decisions throughout the first half of the book. Yes, Ayako is overly strict when she should probably have good reason to know better given her past history. It doesn't matter. The characters have good reasons to act the way they do. They are relatable. They are well explored. You root for them (and Flo) to overcome their issues, accomplish their goals, and learn to communicate with the ones they care about, about the issues that matter.
Japan itself is also a character in this book, and it's really well done. From the lively but sometimes suffocating confines of Tokyo, to provincial but captivating Onomichi, to Hiroshima, where the weight of history is well-represented, the author's love for the country really shines through and adds to the story's weight. I was going to say that it's difficult to remember that he's a Westerner rather than a Japanese native as you are going through the text, but perhaps this is inaccurate. Perhaps the fact that he *is* a Westerner and thus is taking special time and effort to display the beauty and complexity of the country as he sees it, but still from a Westerner's perspective, is what makes the story and the descriptions work so well. Perhaps a native would only gloss over the various descriptions of everyday settings, considering them unimportant to the tale. I wouldn't know. This setup works very well. That's enough for me.
As for the narration, it is superb. Hanako Footman's vocal work was what drew me here to the first place and she delivers here, injecting enough differences in her characters to make them stand out and putting the exact right amount of emotion in every scene to really make you feel what the characters are going through at any given moment. I won't comment on the accuracy of her pronunciation of various Japanese words, as I have no experience with the language, but they sure sound correct to me.
I played this audiobook on a long drive, winding through highways with mountains in the background, I think this only adds to the atmosphere. It really allowed me to immerse myself in the characters and the setting, and I was almost sad when I finally got to my destination and I still had some of the book to go. I strongly recommend both this book and listening to it under the exact circumstances that I did. A lovely experience from start to finish.
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- Roger Winright
- 04-11-24
Therapeutic Background Sound
Highly enjoyed hearing this beautiful novel. The characters are amazing people and the story flows beautifully.
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