In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop - the only bookshop - in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors' lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence's warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn't always a town that wants one.
Yes, she does have a knack for creating interesting characters, but I found the ending kind of depressing, and life in Hardborough...also kind of depressing. I think I'm ready for something a little deeper...=0)
Joanne K. (jrenee) from YPSILANTI, MI wrote on 12/5/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Wow, this was boring! I don't usually mind a slow pace as long as the story is good or the descriptions are vivid and interesting, but I just didn't get anything out of this one. And I missed the humor too, I guess it was waaayyy too dry for me.
Ann C. (inchargemom) from SCHENECTADY, NY wrote on 10/3/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
A widow decides to open a bookshop in a town that doesn't have a book store, and only too late begins to suspect the truth...that a town
choosing to survive.
I loved this book! The language was perfectly chosen, the situations made me smile, and I even had to read some of it aloud to my husband.
Florence Green(the widow) is to be admired for her wit, and her innocent courage, that comes from simply choosing to survive. As Balzac said, the ordinariness of human lives can never be a measure of the effort it takes to keep them going.
This was a good enough story but the ending was kind of depressing.
Eileen G. (dulcimerlady) from CASTLE ROCK, WA wrote on 12/6/2005...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
By the celebrated British author, this book is a tiny gem, one that packs a lot of small-town psychology into a delightful story. There is humor as well as curiosity.
Barbara W. from SIMI VALLEY, CA wrote on 12/11/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is an interesting story about the downsides of living in a small village in Great Britain. It is well told, if slightly depressing. A quick read.
Mary D. (readstoclem) from PAHRUMP, NV wrote on 8/31/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
A middle-aged widow opens a book shop in a tiny coastal village. Extremely dry British wit.
Ivy R. from NEW YORK, NY wrote on 8/26/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fabulous read.
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Sandra E. (Piper) from ALBANY, NY wrote on 6/5/2007...
Very short - Written in English but the British way of phrasing took some deciphering, conversations sometimes left me a bit confused - interesting characters - disappointing ending
Diane M. (bookaholic) from PARADISE, PA wrote on 3/14/2007...
In 1959, Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, decides to open a book store in the seaside town of Hardborough.Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth...that a town that lacks a bookshop isn't always a town that wants one....
Written by one of England's most celebrated contemporary writers!