The Lost and Found Bookshop

by Susan Wiggs

I liked this book except for the end, which I thought was awful.  Natalie Harper’s boyfriend and mother both die in a plane crash when Natalie's boyfriend was flying them both to the celebration of Natalie’s promotion at work.  Her mother was the owner of a bookstore which, Natalie learns, was in great debt.  The shop is in the building owned by her grandfather, Andrew, (and several generations of his family before him) who is in the early stages of dementia. 

Natalie quits her job and takes over the bookstore and the care of her grandfather.  Her mother had already hired Peach Gallagher to make repairs on the building.  Peach is divorced but Natalie doesn’t know it when she is attracted to him.  A lot happens in the book, most of it great except for a few bouts of language and the end, where Natalie asks Peach if he’d like to spend the night.  They’ve kissed once (!!), interacted on business transactions many times, and were at one social event together.  I was so disappointed.  No matter that the rest of the book was wonderful, I would not recommend this book.

Quotes

“When she [Natalie] was very small, her mother used to tell her that books were alive in a special way.  Between the covers, characters were living their lives, enacting their dramas, falling in and out of love, finding trouble, working out their problems.  Even sitting closed on a shelf, a book had a life of its own.  When someone opened the book, that was when the magic happened.”    p. 42 ¶ 6

“You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.”    p. 55 ¶4 last sentence

After the funeral of her mother, “Everyone went back to their own lives, their work and their worries, their families and friends.   When they walked into their homes or offices or boarded a plane or train, they returned to the same world they had left.
   “For Natalie, this was not the case.   For her, nothing would ever be the same.  She now knew that the aftermath of acute and sudden grief was different, a horrible realm she’d never explored....   When she stepped into the shop that evening, she felt an emptiness so vast that she almost couldn’t breathe.  Everything had drained out of her. 
“‘It’s exhausting, isn’t it?’ asked Grandy.  ‘A sadness like this.   It’s physically exhausting.’”    p. 57 ¶2-4

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The Last Bookshop in London. A Novel of World War II

by Madeline Martin

Grace and her friend Viv have been best friends since they were children and had always dreamed of moving to London.  When they arrive there as young adults in 1939, it is nothing like they imagined or expected.  They board with Mrs. Weatherford, Grace’s deceased mother’s best friend, at a discount. 

Viv has a (forged) letter of recommendation.  Grace has none, even though she’d worked for years at her uncle’s hardware store.  Mrs. W. to the rescue: she has arranged employment for Grace at a dusty, cluttered, disorganized bookshop.  Grace doesn’t enjoy reading and is not excited about this work.  When she arrives the first day, Mr. Evans, the owner, immediately dismisses her.  Mrs. W. will have none of it and returns to visit Mr. Evans who, the next day, grudgingly acknowledges Grace.  Grace has a good work ethic and a knack for organization.  She begins to put the shop in order.  And then there’s the war, the Blitz, and Grace becomes a warden for the ARP (Air Raid Protection).

This was a great book for putting the reader in the setting of WWII in England with all its limitations and restrictions on citizens—rations, black-out curtains, getting around outside at night without lights, going on little sleep because of the bombings and sleeping in shelters, etc.  And then there was all the dust and debris and the dangers of moving in an environment that was tumbling down.  I realized that while the Germans were trying to obliterate England in order to conquer it, one of the other outcomes (Was it an intentional strategy?) was wearing the people down.  How did the the British survive on so little sleep, with such limited food?  The British are a resilient people!

I keep saying I’m done with WWII books, but I’m glad I read this one.


Quotes

George speaking: “‘Reading is . . . . It’s going somewhere without ever taking a train or ship, an unveiling of new, incredible worlds. It’s living a life you weren’t born into and a chance to see everything colored by someone else’s perspective. It’s learning without having to face consequences of failures, and how best to succeed.” p. 73 ¶5

“As much as she loved reading the story, no one had prepared her for the end being so bittersweet. No one told her finishing the book would leave her so bereft. It was as though she’d said goodby for the last time to a close friend.” p. 115-116

“There was a special scent to paper and ink, indescribable and unknown to anyone but a true reader. She brought the book to her face, closed her eyes and breathe in that wonderful smell.” p. 195, top

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