Wednesday, 8 August 2012

Fitzgerald, Penelope "The Bookshop"


Fitzgerald, Penelope "The Bookshop" - 1978

"A town that lacks a bookshop isn't always a town that wants one". Unfortunately, this is the morale of the story. A widow opens a bookshop, something most readers dream of. Alas, the rest of the little town is not very welcoming, they ignore her business, they are plain hostile to her.

I was attracted to this book because of its title, obviously. It had a promising start but the book didn't live up to it. A little too superficial, a little too "easy reading" for me. But if you're into a light "beach read", you might appreciate this.

From the back cover:

"In the small East Anglian coastal town of Hardborough, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.

Hardborough quickly becomes a battleground – for Florence has tried to change the way things have always been done. As a result, she has to take on not only the people who have made themselves important, but natural and even supernatural forces too. Her fate will strike a chord with anyone who knows that life has treated them with less than justice
."

Penelope Fitzgerald was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for "The Bookshop" in 1978.

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