Cold Enough for Snow is a strikingly calm and reflexive story of a daughter and her mother, meeting up in Tokyo to travel across Japan. There is not much happening plot-wise: Jessica Au focuses on the little details, which reminds us of Ogród by Hiroko Oyamada and Makoto Shinkai’s movies. If you’ve ever been to Japan, all those little things described by the author will remind you of your own travels: the melodies playing in shopping malls, umbrella stands, lunches at the museums’ cafes.
The narrator pays attention to her surroundings and describes them in depth, as well as her feelings and memories. From her childhood to her recent love interest, she slowly uncovers her past right in front of the reader, often blurring the line between objective reality and imperfect memory. And because all of the conversations are recollected by the daughter, we never really get to hear the mother’s side of story and she may only be a figment of her daughter’s imagination.
Although pretty short, Cold Enough for Snow effortlessly tackles some deep topics, and the beautiful prose of Jessica Au will make you want to come back to this book now and then to discover something new.
