Brought to you by Penguin.

FROM THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING ORIGINAL HEALING AUTHOR

Much-loved modern classic by the author of WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY for fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD

Across a bridge, in view of cherry blossom lies the Marble Cafe where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favourite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this charming little cafe behind the trees ....

Taking a walk along the river, cooking the best tamagoyaki, ordering hot chocolate, forgetting to remove our nail polish... The small, everyday acts that we do can offer unexpected encounters and ultimately change a life.

HOT CHOCOLATE ON THURSDAY connects twelve slice-of-life moments that open and close with a woman ordering her regular hot chocolate at the mysterious Marble Cafe.

What happens in between will touch and swell your heart, as readers connect with a community of untold unfolding lives.

© Michiko Aoyama 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026