The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Olivia Green is a married mother of two who works three jobs as a cleaner. Her husband Jake works at his family’s struggling printing business and with both sons about to be in college, money is very tight.  That’s why Liv puts up with the influencer parents who expect her not only to clean but to look after their children and the office workers who think nothing of throwing trash on the just cleaned floor. The third cleaning job is for Essie Starling, the reclusive author of the Georgia Rory series, which should have been a dream job.  Liv loves Georgia Rory; the plucky, adventurous heroine has inspired Liv for years and seen her through many difficult times in her life. 

Essie, however, is not the easiest person to work for.  She’s not an ogre, but she IS very exacting and she pretty much ignores Liv—except for the occasional note.

So when Essie dies unexpectedly, the last thing Liv expects is that Essie wants her to finish her book—the final Georgia Rory story.  Can Liv give Georgia the happy ending her fans expect? And why would Essie choose her to write this book?

I had read other titles by Phaedra Patrick and enjoyed them, so I had an idea of her writing style.  She tends to write about women who are unappreciated or who don’t have an idea of their own worth, but then they take a voyage of self-discovery.  Actually, they sound a lot like Essie’s Georgia Rory, but that’s probably the point.  Liv’s husband keeps her in the dark about problems with the family business, her sons still expect her to pick up after them and solve their problems, and Liv herself has given up on her childhood dream of being a writer.

To write the book, and to find out why Essie chose her, Liv is going to have to step out of her comfort zone.  What she learns is both freeing and painful, and she is going to have to decide who she is going to be.

I enjoyed the book. I was ready for an uplifting tale and Patrick delivers.  Liv is a reader, so I loved hearing what she was reading (I was thrilled when she read Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen) but also I liked the way that Essie became more and more of a real character after her death.  I also liked the English setting and the supporting cast (though I did get very annoyed at Liv’s sons and the influencer parents) and I liked the discussions about books—structure, character arcs, etc.—that informed Liv’s struggles as an author but never bogged the book down. And I especially loved that this book is about book people, not just authors and editors, publishers and promoters, but about readers.

This is a cozy read for a chilly season!