Tokue is aged, with weak, gnarled hands, and despite his better judgment, Sentaro employs her to make the filling that will turn his shop’s fortunes around.
Only when an old woman, Tokue Yoshii, visits the shop and gives Sentaro a taste of her very special sweet bean paste, does life take a more purposeful turn. In debt to the shop’s owner, who granted him a new life, Sentaro finds little joy in his everyday life.
Instead, Sentaro spends his days making dorayaki, sweet pancakes filled with bean paste, in a small Japanese shop and drowning his evenings in drink. An ex-convict who served time for drug-related crime, he once wanted to be a writer. "Sentaro Tsujii’s life runs pretty much on autopilot. "Charmingly written, the plot is a continual surprise." ( - The Independent (UK) ) "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. But as their friendship flourishes, societal prejudices become impossible to escape, in this quietly devastating novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Tokue makes the best bean paste imaginable, and begins to teach Sentaro her art. Until one day an elderly, handicapped woman enters the shop. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days listlessly filling the pastries. Instead, he works in a confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with a sweet paste made of red beans. Sentaro has failed: he has a criminal record, drinks too much, and hasn’t managed to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer. Through Tokue’s story, Sukegawa eloquently explores the seeds of biases and challenges us to truly listen to the natural world and the messages it artfully hides." "Although Tokue’s past is a reflection of a dark chapter of Japanese history, her wisdom, patience, and kindness shape this touching and occasionally wistful novel. Readers in search of gently illuminating fare―e.g., Shion Miura's The Great Passage, Jeff Talarigo's The Pearl Diver―will appreciate this toothsome treat." "Sukegawa―enabled by Watts's lucid translation―tells an endearing, thoughtful tale about relationships and the everyday meaning of life.
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