The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee

A heartbroken woman turns to helping others move on from their own failed or lost relationships in Kawashiro’s simplistic debut. After Momoko Yuuki is dumped by her boyfriend, Kyohei, she gets drunk and wakes up in a restaurant. She requests that the owner, Iori, prepare her ex’s favorite curry for herself and fellow customer Hozumi to share, as a means to move on from Kyohei. Iori then convinces her to launch a weekly event at the restaurant where women can come in and symbolically bury their past relationships over a meal. Subsequent chapters are dedicated to encounters with customers followed by recipes for the meals described, among them a woman who vows to leave the lothario singer she’s been bankrolling, who is served Red Flags Megastone Hamburger Steak. Momoko also helps customers with grief, such as a widower who requests the onigiri that his late wife used to make for him. It’s pleasant to read, but there’s little character development and the story feels a bit formulaic, with each episode designed to show Momoko’s gradual progress in letting go of Kyohei. This doesn’t quite stand out from the glut of healing fiction on offer. Agent: Neil Gudovtiz, Gudovitz & Company Literary Agency. (Oct.)