Love Notes and Sticky Tape

Love Notes and Sticky Tape is a luminous tale of secrets, second chances, and the silent messages that bind a family across time and tides.

When Mei returns to her remote island hometown after five years in Tokyo, she expects to find only the remnants of the life she left behind: aging fishing nets, familiar faces, and the lingering grief of her mother's long-ago departure. Instead, she stumbles onto a trail of folded paper boats and missing tape-mysterious clues hinting at the truths her mother kept hidden.

As Mei delves deeper, she discovers that the island itself has changed in quiet but profound ways. The shrine steps are lined with paper notes that speak of unspoken love, half-finished songs, and the power of women's voices long suppressed. At the heart of it all are her mother's weather-worn journals, each page containing coded poems and carefully folded secrets that redefine Mei's understanding of home, tradition, and her own destiny.

In this evocative novel by Julien St. James, every crease in the paper and every tide chart reveal a piece of a larger puzzle-of families and communities learning to embrace transformation without losing their heritage. Love Notes and Sticky Tape celebrates the courage it takes to rewrite fate's script, reminding us that sometimes the most vital truths are carried on the very currents we once feared. Perfect for readers of literary fiction and anyone who has ever yearned to reconcile the past with the promise of new beginnings.