Before I Knew I Loved You

The sixth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.

In a special seat in a fabled Tokyo cafe, you’re offered something irresistible – not just a warm, comforting coffee, but the chance to go back in time to revisit the ones you love . . .

In Before I knew I loved you, Toshikazu Kawaguchi takes us back to the warm heart of the mysterious Funiculi Funicula Cafe, with another four guests whose luminous stories of love, lost and won again, will reaffirm your belief in its eternal potential. In this book, we meet:

- The girl who couldn’t call her mother, and yearns to reconnect with her - The man who waited for a reply from his girlfriend, and never heard from her - The woman anxious to travel ahead to know what her future holds - The student who travels back to meet his father again, who passed away many years before.

Yet the same rules always apply – you must return before the coffee gets cold. And while it does, memories are revisited, people are changed for ever, and the enduring power of love transcends the boundaries of time.

The sixth book in the phenomenal, bestselling series, translated from Japanese, Before I knew I loved you asks the irresistible question: what would you do if you were offered the chance to go back in time?

© 2026 Picador (Audiobook): 9781035046331

Release date

Audiobook: 21 May 2026