Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: healing fiction
Review: The Lantern of Lost Memories is, at the same time, a cohesive novel, and a collection of three short stories that seem only loosely connected until the end, when the connection becomes much clearer.
Each story begins with a delivery, The deliveryman, Yama, brings a box to Mr. Hirasaki and they have a cheerful exchange, as they always do. Yama comments on the size of the box, and makes a prediction about Mr. Hirasaki's next visitor based on the size and heft of the box. Each box contains photographs - precisely one photograph for every day of the life of the next to visit Mr. Hirasaki's photo studio.
The photo studio is a waystation between life and the afterlife. The recently deceased must sift through their individual boxes of photos and choose one for each year of their life. The photos will then be placed on a spinning lantern to give them a last chance to relive their favorite memories. Additionally, each person has the opportunity to go back to one day in their life to retake a photograph of a special memory.
Mr. Hirasaka is on hand for every state of the journey from death to afterlife, but doesn't know why he's stuck in the liminal space of the photo studio. Unlike his guests, he has no memories of his life or death, and only a single photograph of himself to go by. As the last story wraps up, and the threads begin to tie together, we get hints of why this is so, but no clear picture (pun intended) emergese. Perhaps a sequel is in the works in which Mr. Hirasaka will help more people make the transition from life to death and will also learn more about himself.
Overall, a thoughtful and reflective addition to the healing fiction genre.
