Evie Woods

I need to read this again to give it a rating. It was very confusing for me because there were 2 stories running in parallel at different times. Both women were endangered by their families. There was a bookstore, or maybe several bookstores, and the magic of bookstores and people coming and going. The mysterious and magical part was fun to read, but again, another read-through will be necessary to really comprehend everything that was happening.

ETA: I just reread the book and loved it even more! I could see how the stories of the 2 women are entangled even though they occur many years apart. The mysteries surrounding the books, the manuscripts and the magic bookstores is really fun!… (mais)

The Publisher Says:
For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been side characters in their own lives. But when a vanishing bookstore casts it's spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. By unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder.. where nothing is as it seems.

My review:

In 1921, we meet Opaline Carlisle,who lives at home with her mother and dominating, controlling elder brother, Lyndon. Her mother and brother insist that she must meet and marry a man she has never met, in order to secure the family finances. Instead, she flees to Paris, hoping to run a bookshop there.

In present day Dublin, Martha Winter has fled an abusive husband. She seeks work of any kind , and finds herself working for an eccentric lady , Madame Bowden, as a live in housekeeper. Henry Field is PhD scholar, in search of a lost manuscript. There, he and Martha's paths cross.

A charming and magical read, with many references to books and bookshops. Highly recommended.… (mais)

This story, with some historical fiction aspects, is about a magical bookshop is told from multiple points of view that vary in time period.

Opaline Carlisle was a young woman in the 1920s, facing pressure from her tyrannical older brother Lyndon to marry. She ran away from London to France, and ended up working for Sylvia Beach in her famous "Shakespeare and Company" bookstore.

Martha Winter, from the present time, ran away also, fleeing an abusive marriage in England to Dublin, where she found employment working as a live-in housekeeper for an eccentric old woman, Madam Bowden.

Henry Field, also in the present day, is also in Dublin, searching for clues about a missing manuscript by Emily Bronte. His search narrows down to a supposed bookshop that was located right next to the home of Madam Bowden, but nothing is there now, or so it would seem.

Henry tries to enlist Martha’s help in solving the mystery, and they begin a tentative friendship. Could it evolve into more? And what is happening with all the mysterious clues about the bookshop that are literally intruding into Martha’s life?

Evaluation: It seems like the author couldn’t decide if she wanted to write a story about the magic of books, stories, and bookstores, or about the injustice and endurance of abuse of women. Each plot thread is good, but they don’t coalesce well, and each therefore suffers a bit in development and execution. Not a bad read, but it would have worked better as two separate books.… (mais)