Rating: 7/10
Purchase Link: https://tokopedia.link/1amEa00mUGb
I bought this book because I had previously read a mystery novel by the same author, The Salvation of a Saint. I thought all of Keigo Higashino's works were in the mystery and investigation genre, like the Detective Galileo series, but it turns out this book is different.
"The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" is a unique fantasy story with a backdrop of time travel. It tells the tale of the owner of a general store who enjoys offering consultation sessions through letters. Initially, this activity was just for fun. Grandpa Namiya, the store owner, received letters from children and posted his replies on the wall.
Children asked how to get a perfect score, or how to learn the language of monkeys, just in case the Earth was invaded by monkeys as in the movie Planet of the Apes. Until one day, there was an envelope with a serious question from a woman. Feeling the need to provide a deeper answer, Yuji Namiya started implementing new rules to make the correspondence more private. Using the mail slot in the door to place letters, and a milk box behind the house for letter senders to retrieve the answers.
The book is divided into five parts, each with a different time setting. In the first part, set in the future, three unintentional thieves hide inside the already empty Namiya General Store. They experience strangeness when letters come through the mail slot in the door, even though there is no one outside. After a while, they communicate by exchanging letters and realize that time flows differently in the store.
Communicating from the future, these three thieves respond to letters with knowledge from their time, to letter senders from the past.
The second part tells the story of an amateur musician who wants to become a professional but is still struggling. He is burdened with the thought of whether he should continue pursuing his dream of being a musician or inherit his family's fish store business. He writes a letter to the Namiya General Store, and the response comes from the three thieves in the initial story. Knowing the future, they provide good advice through their reply.
The third part discusses the time when Yuji Namiya is still alive, narrating the beginning of consultations at the store through conversations with his son Takayuki. It is revealed that Yuji is suffering from a severe illness, and his time is running out. Yuji writes a will for Takayuki to announce that consultations at the Namiya General Store will reopen on the 33rd anniversary of his death.
The fourth and fifth parts complement the puzzle pieces from the earlier sections, revealing that everything is connected through the flow of destiny. Yuji's good intentions, sacrificing time and effort to give advice to people, actually bring a lot of goodness that resonates into broader kindness.
Several times, I got goosebumps following the storyline of this book. As the facts begin to unfold, it imparts lessons that can be applied in real life. Doing good deeds will never be in vain. Sincerity is a pearl. Empathy is an essential life skill.