In his third life, Kinnosuke belonged to a famous author. Now, in his ninth, he goes to live in the Big Dipper Bookshop, owned by a woman called Erika Kitahoshi, which is already home to brood of fellow cats - Lulu, Kinu, Kaa, and Chibi - who all once belonged to writers too. Soon Kinnosuke begins to notice some of the bookshop''s more curious quirks: there are few customers, but it never goes out of business. No stock is ordered, but it never seems to run out of books. But if he wants to know more of its secrets he will have to exchange some of his own - about the life he shared with the author. Meanwhile, once so disinterested in the lives of humans, Kinnosuke becomes close to a young customer with ambitions of becoming a writer herself. When misfortune befalls her and imperils her dream, Kinnosuke must confront the secret history behind the bookshop and fight to keep her hopes alive. Translated from the Japanese by Sylvia Gallagher

Autorentext

Kentaro Utsugi is from Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture. He grew up in a house surrounded by books, and before he knew it, he started writing novels. His first novel, The Forest Calls, was published in 2021. The Nine Lives of a Bookshop Cat won the Japan Fantasy Novel Grand Prize 2024, judged, among others, by the author Tomihiko Morimi.

Klappentext

In his third life, Kinnosuke belonged to a famous author.

Now, in his ninth, he wants nothing more to do with humans, who bring nothing but trouble and suffering. Drawn to the city in search of food, he comes across the Hokuto-do Bookshop, owned by a curious woman who has already given a home to four contented cats.

Soon Kinnosuke begins to notice the shop's quirks: there are few customers, but it never goes out of business. No stock is ordered, but it never runs out of books. And the other cats also belonged to famous authors in previous lives. If he wants to know more of its secrets, he will have to reveal his own about the life he shared with the author.

At first, he is reluctant, but when a young aspiring writer faces tragedy, Kinnosuke is drawn into her struggle, confronting the bookshop's hidden past to help keep her dream alive.

Translated from the Japanese by Sylvia Gallagher