Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

I have never read any of Banana Yoshimoto's novels before, but with a pen-name like that, I couldn't resist picking this one up.  Banana Yoshimoto's book consists of two mini novellas: Kitchen, and Moonlight Shadow.  She has melancholy down to an art as she writes of loss, tragedy, and nostalgia of friends and lovers.

Kitchen is about how Mikage Sakurai's favorite place in the world is the kitchen (...really), and how she deals with the death of her grandmother.  Yuichi, a young boy who befriended Mikage's grandmother, offers her a place to stay.  She ends up being taken in by Yuichi and his transgender mother, Eriko (took me by surprise, but she is the best character in this story, I swear!) and finds comfort in their kitchen.  Mikage's love of kitchens leads to her to move out and pursue a job as a culinary expert's assistant.  While she is ready to move forward with her advancing career and her life, a phone call one day forces her grieve for her past and evaluate her relationship with Yuichi.

Moonlight Shadow is about Satsuki, a young woman who lost her boyfriend Hitoshi in a car accident and barely handles her grief with moonlight jogs.  As she rests at a bridge, she meets kind and mysterious Urara.  Though a serendipitous meeting, Satsuki bumps into Urara again a few days later and befriends her, only to find that Urara has also lost someone dear to her as well.  Not only can Urara relate to Satsuki's pain, but she also extends an interesting proposition: with the perfect timing and place, they will have the chance to be spiritually reunited with the loved ones for one last goodbye.  Though this Moonlight Shadow is about closure, its supernatural element and light-hearted ending is the perfect companion piece to the realistic, poignant, Kitchen.

To be honest, you have to be in the right sort of mood to read this, but it's light and short enough.  A quick and easy read, Banana Yoshimoto shows that death does not always have to bring tragedy, but  the kindness of others and a renewed love of life.