The Lost Bookshop

I loved this book because of its magical, immersive nature. I certainly don't need to be persuaded to read a book about a bookshop but I was delighted to be whisked away with the unique setting and strong story themes.

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found… Who could resist that?

I was glad I found this book and its author Evie Woods. She seduced me with her lovely writing and compelling characters. I loved the magical moments when a tree takes over a bedroom just to supply the occupant with books the tree thinks will help her.

I like the idea that no matter what baggage we carry—betrayal, abuse, lost love—we can grow, face our personal truth, and step into a wondrous world.

I love unpretentious, dusty, second-hand bookshops that contain many surprises.

In my own novel, I celebrate a unique bookshop located in Paris during the 1920s-1940s – Shakespeare and Company. I love the fact that Evie Woods shares the same yearning as me for those days at Sylvia Beach’s bookshop where the likes of Ezra Pound, James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, and Ernest Hemingway visited, often giving readings.

You can visit a new version of that shop in Paris today, founded by George Whitman. I love it deeply – the best bookshop in the world.

True confession:  I am a sucker for any book that has the word “Bookshop” in the title. (Yep, I know it’s a personal issue). This may sound confusing, but it’s not: there are two timelines and three characters narrating their story: Oppaline (1921), Martha (present-day), and Henry (present-day). Both Oppaline and Martha have faced major challenges in their lives.

It is a magical book about a Bookshop that once stood on a street in Dublin that seemed to have vanished. 

The book is engaging, enchanting, and at times sad. I continued to think about this book long after I… show more.