NEED TO KNOW
\nLost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura, translated by Yuki Tejima follows a teenager who reunites the living and the deadThe book, which has already sold millions of copies in Japan, hits shelves stateside Aug. 26Below, read an exclusive excerpt shared with PEOPLE<\/p>\n
Japanese literature in translation is having a moment stateside, and there’s no better time to hop on the trend.\n<\/p>\n
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon<\/a> by Mizuki Tsujimura, translated by Yuki Tejima, comes out from Scribner on Aug. 26 and PEOPLE has an exclusive peek inside the book that’s already sold millions of copies in Japan.\n<\/p>\n The book follows Ayumi Shibuya, a teenage “go-between” who reunites the living and the dead. After meeting his clients at a luxury hotel, Ayumi explains the rules: “each reunion is a one-time arrangement that the dead can refuse, the service is entirely free and the meeting must take place during a full moon,” the official synopsis explains.\n<\/p>\n Throughout the course of these meetings, we encounter an array of characters: There’s the resentful eldest son who wants to ask his mother to unearth the deeds to a plot of land, a teenage girl who blames herself for her best friend\u2019s death and a weary businessman seeking answers about his fianc\u00e9e\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n Below, read an exclusive excerpt of Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Author Mizuki Tsujimura.<\/p>\n Yoshihiro Kamiya<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you hear about the go-between?\u201d\n<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t sit down, instead resting one foot on the low fence in front of the lawn. His eyes were boring into me, making me shrink even further. I instinctively averted my gaze and then, realizing I hadn\u2019t looked anybody in the eye recently, felt myself flushing from the neck up.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt was online. I met some people who introduced me to some other people, and then some others, and so on.\u201d\n<\/p>\n My online acquaintances said I wouldn\u2019t need to give specifics, and the boy didn\u2019t ask any more.\n<\/p>\n I took a deep breath.\n<\/p>\n I\u2019d jumped through hoops to get to where I was today, spending more money than I\u2019d expected to along the way. I\u2019d been swindled out of cash because I couldn\u2019t tell the authentic sources from the fakes. Though the question of legitimacy still loomed, this was the first time I\u2019d been able to get the go-between\u2019s contact information at all. If the boy in front of me was, in fact, the real thing, I\u2019d attribute it to luck and nothing more. Half of me had been ready to throw in the towel and the other half had thought, whatever, who cares if it\u2019s a scam. Sandwiched in the crevices between the two urges was a part of me that wanted to believe.\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer , from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you were some kind of urban legend,\u201d I said, and he glanced over at me as he blew on his drink. Seeing that the tea was as hot for him as it was for me made him seem human.\u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d actually get to meet you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cHow familiar are you with the rules?\u201d\n<\/p>\n There was a mysterious calm to the boy\u2019s voice, making me feel like I was the younger of the two. I felt my confidence wane again.\n<\/p>\n But I\u2019d already come this far.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI get the gist of them. But, um, is it true? That you can talk to people who have died?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cI can bring them to you,\u201d he said shortly. He sounded almost impatient. \u201cIf you\u2019re picturing something like the mediums of Mount Osore, you\u2019d be wrong. I don\u2019t let dead spirits possess my body or receive messages to pass on. I set up a meeting between you and the deceased person you wish to see. I\u2019m strictly the go-between.\u201d\n<\/p>\n ‘Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon’.<\/p>\n Doubleday<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve heard. Some people say you\u2019re a famous organization that goes way back?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cOrganization,\u201d he mumbled to himself.\n<\/p>\n Was I totally off-base? But the boy didn\u2019t seem put out. \u201cYou\u2019re not . . . ?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s stick to the facts. First, the go-between receives a request from a living person, someone like you. You tell me about the person in your life who has passed away. I take your request back with me and present it to the departed. I confirm whether they\u2019re interested in seeing you as well. If they give their consent, I set up the meeting.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cRight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n That was the work of a go-between.\n<\/p>\n I wondered how long they\u2019d been around. When I first heard about them, I remember thinking that they did sound a lot like the Mount Osore mediums the boy had just mentioned.\n<\/p>\n I\u2019d heard numerous accounts of big-name politicians getting advice from notable historical figures with the help of a go-between, and celebrities having teary encounters with friends who\u2019d died too young. Stories like those were passed from person to person like fairytales for adults \u2014 no doubt laughed off by many. But for those in the know, the go-between was a normal presence, about as common as rumors of moguls and stars paying large amounts of money to keep a psychic or astrologer on hand. Whether somebody can find their way to a go-between depends on three factors. One, that you know they exist, two, that you believe they exist and three, luck.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhat exactly does it mean for you to \u2018set up a meeting\u2019?\u201d\n<\/p>\n He looked at me as if to say, You came to me without even knowing that?\n<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, once somebody has died,\u201d I said,\u201cthey no longer exist as physical bodies, obviously. And if the funeral is over, they\u2019ve been cremated and buried.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey will appear looking as they did in life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n He placed his paper cup on the bench and took out the notebook again. Lowering his gaze, he started to explain as if reading off the page.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe spirit of the deceased is permitted to take on a physical form when in the meeting location designated by the go-between. The living person can see them, of course, and also reach out to touch them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d I whispered. He shot me another look. \u201cHow is that possible?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cIsn\u2019t that why you came to me?\u201d His voice grew sharper. \u201cWhy do you need to know how it works? You get to see this person. You\u2019ll meet face-to-face and be able to talk to them directly. What more do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n