A 1960s Japanese general store isn’t what most people would picture as the central hub of activity, but in Keigo Higashino’s novel, The Miracles of Namiya General Store, it’s the backbone of the narrative, a key figure in the adventures of the story.
With elements of magic realism woven into the story, The Miracles of Namiya General Store utilises both flashbacks and present day scenes to allow the narrative to unfold. Classified as both a Mystery and a Fantasy novel, Higashino’s novel encompasses the best of both genres, combining memorable characters and interconnected short stories with a time-travel aspect to create a novel that’s unlike any other I’ve read before.
Despite the realistic 1960s Japan setting, in the Namiya General Store, time doesn’t operate according to the fixed patterns we’re used to, but ebbs and flows between past and present, using flashbacks to showcase the General Store in its heyday, and present day scenes to immerse the reader in the current setting of the General Store. In the present day, this general store has long since gone out of business, its derelict appearance catching the eye of three runaway spies to use as a hideout. This is where our story begins.
Unlike most general stores, The Namiya General Store isn’t known for affordable goods or high quality products, but for its Agony Aunt service, offering advice to anonymous askers. One of the many interesting characters that make up the eclectic cast in the story, Mr Namiya, is an elderly man who offered advice to patrons of the General Store via letters as a joke, but after many people sought out this service, had decided to turn it into a full-time service. What I really loved about this story was the way each of the characters, even those in the 1960s, had struggles that felt real and relatable for modern day readers. Although the idea of an Agony Aunt is inherently a service to provide quick amelioration to a problem, the growth arcs that each of the many characters embark on don’t feel clichéd or rushed, but rather mimic real life.
Another thing about the novel that really left me in awe was the way Keigo Higashino was able to integrate all the shorter stories of individual characters and weave them all together to form a fully fleshed out narrative, with not a single story feeling redundant to the plot progression. Similar to the way a conductor harnesses the strengths of each individual musician and their instrument to lead an orchestra to create harmonies, Higashino’s stories play off each other in a way that feels fresh and unexpected to the reader.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and would highly recommend it to all readers, regardless of age or genre preferences. With an integral part of the narrative centred around growth, all readers will find themselves undergoing deep reflection and growth through the process of reading the novel, and learning from the actions of the characters, which mirror those behaviours so often reflected in modern society. I really hope you do give it a read, and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did!