A Tale for the Time Being

After the 2011 tsunami, a Hello Kitty lunchbox washes up on the shore of a remote Canadian island. Inside, novelist Ruth discovers a diary written by Nao, a sixteen-year-old girl in Tokyo grappling with deep loneliness, bullying, and thoughts of ending her life. Before making any final decisions, Nao sets out to tell the story of her great-grandmother, a 104-year-old Zen Buddhist nun whose quiet strength becomes a lifeline.

As Ruth reads, she becomes immersed in Nao’s world, drawn into the urgency of her voice and the uncertainty of her fate. What begins as a mystery slowly becomes an intimate and profound encounter—one that challenges Ruth’s sense of time, identity, and her own place in the world.

Blending fiction and reality, history and memory, A Tale for the Time Being is a deeply thoughtful novel about the invisible threads that connect us across continents and generations—and the quiet, enduring power of storytelling.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.