The Blanket Cats

Seven interlinked stories built around an unusual Tokyo pet shop that rents out its cats—each with its own blanket—for three days at a time, under strict rules: return the cat after three nights, let it sleep only on its own blanket, and never rent the same one twice in a month. Seven very different customers borrow a cat to fill some ache in their lives: an infertile couple, a bickering brother and sister adjusting to a stepmother, a family hoping to give their fading grandmother one last comfort. Tender and quietly wise, this bestselling Japanese collection is about the small, temporary companions who help us face what we cannot. Translated from the Japanese.