Review by Booklist Review
In the popular feel-good mode, best-selling Japanese writer Machida offers a charming tale centered on the Koganemura branch of the Tenderness convenience store in the Mojiko port section of the city of Kitakyushu. So attractive and charming is Shiba, the store manager, that an associate, Mitsuri, is working on a manga series about him called The Phero-Manager's Indecent Diary. But what really makes the Tenderness store click is the workers' generous servings of empathy. Located in the bottom floor of a building with mostly seniors as residents, the store offers a clean dining area, a daily bento lunchbox special, and a socializing opportunity. The meal also helps store employees check on infirm residents by keeping track of lunch absences. Interconnected vignettes about the workers, customers, and families deliver a touch of whimsy and plenty of heart. Joys and sorrows bring everyone together, even those just passing through. In an age in which loneliness is an epidemic, the people at Tenderness show that the definition of community can be exactly what you need it to be.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Machida (52-Hertz Whales) concocts a heartfelt and pleasantly quirky tale of a convenience store chain that serves just what its customers need. In the seaside town of Mojiko, the eccentric Mr. Shiba manages a Tenderness store, where his magnetic personality and handsome figure are nothing compared to his love for his customers and employees. The story follows multiple Tenderness patrons as they navigate hardships, with the store bringing them closer together. Among them are employee Mitsuri, a mother who struggles with raising a difficult teenage boy and finds solace in publishing her popular online manga. There's also customer Yoshirō, an aspiring manga artist who strives to leave his job as a tutor; and Azusa, a middle schooler who yearns to step out of her friend's shadow and discovers joy in the sweet treats at Tenderness, fueling her desire to become a pastry chef. Mr. Shiba's interventions in others' lives has mixed results--his encouragement of Yoshirō causes the young man to reel from embarrassment--but overall, the well-meaning proprietor seeds a sense of hope and purpose in those he encounters. Readers of healing fiction like Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold will be delighted. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
It may seem too on the nose that the titular convenience store of this Japanese healing fiction novel is called Tenderness, but it is just what the local community--and perhaps listeners--needs. As is common for the genre, each chapter follows a different character's struggles until a supportive community forms. Several characters are trying to find their spark for life, leading one to create a web comic about her strangely alluring manager--a man so charming that he has a fan club. Other troubles include bullying, grief, and whether decades' worth of relationship damage can be repaired. Naka seems to be a popular recent narrator for Japanese translations and it's easy to see why. She has a subtle style of narration, rightly trusting small changes of inflection to convey the necessary emotion. This is not a story of high drama, so Naka's clear, soothing cadence is perfect for lulling listeners into understanding the lessons of everyday troubles we share. VERDICT A must-listen for fans of Jungeun Yun's The Marigold Mind Laundry and Syou Ishida's We'll Prescribe You a Cat.--Matthew Galloway
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