Author: Jenny ColganTitle: The Bookshop on the Shore
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 2019
Genre: Contemporary fiction/feelgood
Links: Bokus / Adlibris / Goodreads
It's been awhile since I last read a Colgan book. I think I read 3 or 4 in a row and then had to take a break (as I usually do when I've over-expended an author). I didn't even realise she'd released anything new until I stumbled upon this at the library. I did not read the hardback version, though, because I then found it as an audiobook and that's more my jam. I settled in for a light read of dreams, obstacles and love.
Boy, did I get something more! This book is about Zoe, a single mom living hand-to-mouth in London with her four year old son. She struggles with money, her ex, work, a good home and the fact that Hari, her son, doesn't speak. And now rent is going up. She is, in a word, unhappy. And also exhausted. And terrified of a future with no home. Getting the opportunity to move to Scotland to be a live-in au pair and bookseller (two jobs!), she doesn't have much choice. Away they go. What they find in Scotland makes her question her decision more than once.
I love how Colgan doesn't make it easy on her characters, but how she also makes the competent, resilient and hard-working. Sure, things doesn't go as planned (like, ever), but they turn out fine. Zoe is a person whose life isn't going all that swell, but she would do anything for her little boy. She's also full of compassion and I love to see her grow from a timid, exhausted shell of a person to a vibrant, confident and lovely one. No wonder Ramsey finds himself a bit scared of her at times - she's awesome!
Seeing the slow, slow burn of their romance was a delight. This is not a case of insta-attraction or anything of the like. They're boss and employee - wreck and wreck - lost soul and lost soul. The romance is definitely not in focus, though. This is the story about Zoe, Hari and three children who have lost their mother (and, in some ways, their father) and behave accordingly. My heart ached so much for Mary and the way Colgan presented her was so good. Mental health is such an important topic and I'm glad it was shown in such a way. The way Zoe interacted with the kids was also comfortable to read. And the story is also about Zoe finding a place to live and grow and be happy.
The only downside for me was the length of the story. It could easily have been cut down by a third. But, then again, we wouldn't get Colgan's beautiful descriptions in full. This book is also a testament on how to write multiple point of views in the same space without making it confusing or weird.
I recommend this to anyone who've read and loved Jenny Colgan, but also anyone who's looking for a sweet story about finding a home, people taking care of each other, a scary chicken and some ridiculous townsfolk. Oh, and a big, beautiful library.
4.5 of 5 first editions of Up on the Rooftops (and omg, I want this book to exist so badly!)
/ Denise
It's been awhile since I last read a Colgan book. I think I read 3 or 4 in a row and then had to take a break (as I usually do when I've over-expended an author). I didn't even realise she'd released anything new until I stumbled upon this at the library. I did not read the hardback version, though, because I then found it as an audiobook and that's more my jam. I settled in for a light read of dreams, obstacles and love.
Boy, did I get something more! This book is about Zoe, a single mom living hand-to-mouth in London with her four year old son. She struggles with money, her ex, work, a good home and the fact that Hari, her son, doesn't speak. And now rent is going up. She is, in a word, unhappy. And also exhausted. And terrified of a future with no home. Getting the opportunity to move to Scotland to be a live-in au pair and bookseller (two jobs!), she doesn't have much choice. Away they go. What they find in Scotland makes her question her decision more than once.
I love how Colgan doesn't make it easy on her characters, but how she also makes the competent, resilient and hard-working. Sure, things doesn't go as planned (like, ever), but they turn out fine. Zoe is a person whose life isn't going all that swell, but she would do anything for her little boy. She's also full of compassion and I love to see her grow from a timid, exhausted shell of a person to a vibrant, confident and lovely one. No wonder Ramsey finds himself a bit scared of her at times - she's awesome!
Seeing the slow, slow burn of their romance was a delight. This is not a case of insta-attraction or anything of the like. They're boss and employee - wreck and wreck - lost soul and lost soul. The romance is definitely not in focus, though. This is the story about Zoe, Hari and three children who have lost their mother (and, in some ways, their father) and behave accordingly. My heart ached so much for Mary and the way Colgan presented her was so good. Mental health is such an important topic and I'm glad it was shown in such a way. The way Zoe interacted with the kids was also comfortable to read. And the story is also about Zoe finding a place to live and grow and be happy.
The only downside for me was the length of the story. It could easily have been cut down by a third. But, then again, we wouldn't get Colgan's beautiful descriptions in full. This book is also a testament on how to write multiple point of views in the same space without making it confusing or weird.
I recommend this to anyone who've read and loved Jenny Colgan, but also anyone who's looking for a sweet story about finding a home, people taking care of each other, a scary chicken and some ridiculous townsfolk. Oh, and a big, beautiful library.
4.5 of 5 first editions of Up on the Rooftops (and omg, I want this book to exist so badly!)
/ Denise
Kommentarer
Skicka en kommentar