The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

London, 1921: Twenty-one year old Opaline Carlisle has just been informed by her brother that he has arranged a marriage for her with someone she has never met.  A spirited girl, she has no intention of being forced into wedlock, so she pretends to agree. Instead, that night she slips away with some books from her late father’s prized collection and escapes to Paris with the intention of becoming a bookseller.

Dublin, the present: Martha is also running away, trying to escape an abusive husband. With no firm plan in mind, she ends up in Dublin and takes a job as a live-in housekeeper for the flamboyant and imperious Madame Bowden. She’s startled one day to find an Englishman pacing beside the house. Henry is an odd young man, a scholar, who claims he is looking for a bookshop that is supposed to be beside the house.  The bookshop was supposed to belong to a renowned bookseller and collector, Opaline Gray.  Martha is a bit skeptical, but there’s something attractive about him.

Henry, for his part, realizes that Martha is perhaps the most intriguing woman that he has ever met. Unfortunately, he also realizes that he has not made the best of impressions.  He’s going to have to find some charm if he is going to learn anything about the bookshop—or the woman.

The book goes back and forth between these three characters, telling us of Opaline’s life as Henry and Martha search for clues—and deal with their own feelings.  They all have secrets, but as we all know secrets have a habit of not staying buried for long.

This is a charming book with beguiling characters who draw you into their stories.  There’s a thread of magical realism running through the book, and not just the mysterious bookshop. Opaline’s story is darker, though, and at times a sad and sobering look at women’s rights in past eras, or rather lack thereof. Overall the book is a beautiful tribute to readers and books, and the transformative power to be found there.  I was invested in all three of the main characters, and anxiously turned pages to discover their fates. There were a number of surprises along the way as well.

One of my favorite parts is when Opaline ends up in Paris where she gets a job at the legendary bookstore, Shakespeare and Company.  In the 1920s, the store was a second home to many great writers, including James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzagerald, all of whom were supported by the store’s owner, Sylvia Beach.  Woods did a lovely job of evoking that era—I wish there had been more chapters!

I am very much looking forward to her next book, The Story Collector, which deals with an Irish farm girl who helps an American translate Irish folk and fairy tales. It’s due out in August, and promises to be just as magical as this book.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

 

 

Reviewed by Christy

            Julia Power is a young Irish nurse on the cusp of turning thirty. She’s a midwife in the maternity ward of the hospital, and finds great fulfillment in her career. But work has been chaotic and overwhelming the past couple weeks. The hospital employees are overworked and understaffed, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. It’s 1918, and the Spanish Flu is ravishing Dublin and the entire world.

            The Pull of the Stars is a day-in-the-life type of book that takes place over three merciless days in a makeshift maternity ward for expectant mothers with the flu. Julia must keep her patients comfortable and keep an eye on their vital signs, all while delivering an occasional baby and deferring to male doctors who are quick to dismiss her expertise. Sometimes the deference is more difficult than the rest. Luckily, she has the assistance of a scrappy, young volunteer who is a quick learner and an enormous help. She also meets the new female doctor who is rumored to be an activist against British rule but seems to be on Julia’s side when it comes to medical practices.

            Once I realized the book would be “merely” following Julia around as she does her job, I was a little apprehensive that it wouldn’t grab me or worse, bore me completely. I could not have been more wrong. While there are glimpses of her home life with her World War I veteran brother, most of the action takes place in the hospital. And it is action! Julia is a wonderful, capable nurse who always has her patients’ best interests in mind. Her volunteer, Bridie, is bright-eyed and eager to learn. The female doctor, Dr. Lynn, is gentle and understanding. Basically, I loved all of these characters. My only real qualms were a romance plot line that felt a little out of nowhere, and some of the events at the end of the book. I’m not really sure how I feel about them but I can say I didn’t love them.

            I was fortunate enough to catch the audio book available on READS, and at times, the performance had me on the edge of my seat. Listening to a lyrical Irish accent was certainly nice too. Although Donoghue had started work on this book in October of 2018, the release is quite timely, and I’m sure our current state of affairs factored into the urgency I felt while reading this book. I’ve read a couple of Donoghue’s books and enjoyed them immensely, but for some reason it’s been quite a long time since I’ve given her another go. I don’t think that’s a mistake I’ll repeat.

In the Woods by Tana French

Reviewed by Christy H.

            Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox had an instant bond when Cassie joined the Dublin Murder Squad.  Now partners and best friends, they work exceedingly well together – interrogating suspects, questioning witnesses, or just divvying up small, everyday tasks. They know what roles to play, when needed, to get the best results. But when a twelve year old girl’s body is found in Knocknaree woods their partnership and friendship is sorely tested.

            The Knocknaree woods hold a special place in Rob Ryan’s heart – not all of it good. When he was twelve years old himself, he and two friends knew those woods inside and out. They ran and played there, hid there, witnessed horrible acts of violence there. Then all three seemingly vanished into thin air. Rob Ryan was the only one found hours later, clinging to a tree, shoes blood soaked, and unable to remember a thing. He was Adam Ryan then. Over twenty years later he still doesn’t remember much, and his friends have never returned.

            Soon after he went to boarding school, started going by his middle name, and eventually became a policeman and ultimately a detective. When the new Knocknaree case falls into his lap, he admits who he is to Cassie. He wants to keep working the case so he and Cassie do everything they can to keep his past secret.

            Though I enjoy true crime, police procedural novels are not generally what I pick up to read. I bought this one years and years ago though and figured it was more than past time to give it a go. I really enjoyed it. I liked French’s writing, and I loved Cassie. She’s good at her job and thick skinned – which she would have to be as the only woman on the squad. She’s never deterred from speaking her mind when she knows it’s important, and she doesn’t mind a bit of teasing as long as she can tease right back. I even liked the relationship between her and  Rob,  even though Rob himself grated my nerves more and more as the book went on. He was at times frustratingly naïve or needlessly cruel. I admit I did at one point consider dropping the book because his point of view was so irritating but I stuck it out because the mystery was intriguing, and Cassie was the real star. I’m glad I finished it. The conclusion was satisfying, creepy, and intense. And I’m interested in the second in the series The Likeness as well. I’m not a series person but Cassie is the main character in that one, and I just can’t say no to that.