Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

If you know me at all, you will know that Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout changed me, as a reader, as a writer, and as a person. Olive Kitteridge was the first book I read that looked like a novel, but was instead a series of short stories that were woven together such that it felt like you were in fact reading a novel. Olive (we are as you see on a first name basis, lol) unlocked a writing dilemma I had, a stumbling block if you will. I had been trying to write a novel, and I would write a bit and abandon it, come back to it and change it completely, forget about it for a while, and repeat. But, after reading Olive Kitteridge, the story that was locked (or blocked shall we say) up inside of me started to shift around and the pieces began to fall into place. I’m nowhere near finished with the first draft, but I feel good about the direction where it’s heading.

When I started The Kamogawa Food Detectives, I had no idea that it was a series of short stories. In my opinion, it seems like the protagonists, a father and daughter team operating a business that is part restaurant and part detective agency, are the main characters in each story, but that is misleading. Each story features someone searching for something, a dish of food from a distant memory, from their childhood, from a deceased loved one, one that is seemingly impossible to replicate. But, Nagare (the father) and Koishi (his daughter) somehow manage to do so, and in doing so, they make that person whole again.

I found this book very intriguing. I haven’t read that many books in translation, so maybe this is my learning curve, but the writing in places seems stilted or disjointed. The stories, however, are anything but. They hold together just fine, and the resolution of each is part bittersweet and part heartwarming. The close relationship between this father and daughter, and the love and devotion they share for Koishi’s deceased mother, were palpable. I enjoyed this book immensely.

As I logged onto Goodreads to add it to my list of completed reads for this year, I saw that there is a sequel, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, being published on October 8, 2024. I will be reading that as soon as I can get my hands on it!

Words of advice: do not read this book on an empty stomach. While I was not familiar with at least half of the Japanese dishes or ingredients mentioned in each story, I would gladly eat anything Nagare and Koishi of The Kamogawa Diner put in front of me! Get your chopsticks ready when you sit down to read this lovely book!