If ever there was a book about books, the deepest part of my being would find it. My own belief that a story shared with others is the missing puzzle piece to true connection is undeniable proof of that. How many times have I been noncommittal about an interaction until I learned a deeper truth about someone or something, and suddenly that familiar tingling sensation at the soul level intervenes and help everything make a bit more sense.
I dove into this novel with anticipation and eagerness. And while the overall premise of the story alongside the overarching message is one that resonates deeply with me, the manner in which it was carried out fell a bit short for me.
It may be my distracted mind and inability to focus on details, but I found it difficult to separate the two female characters’ POV, Opaline and Martha, over the course of their individual chapters. There were so many similarities between the two that I sometimes confused one woman’s situation for the other. With that being said, both personalities were well-developed and authentic.
I think the biggest problem I had was the fluctuating tone and drama that occurred over the course of the pages in this novel. There were sensual moments that didn’t mesh with the language used, and the propensity for the most extreme situations to occur at the most unexpected times, while possible, seemed overly dramatic, especially given the number of times said extremity occurred.
So, with all this negativity, how could I possibly give it the rating I did? While the delivery of this story might not have met my needs or expectations, the soul of it did. There is something about the essence of a story that transcends the words, characters, or plot points used to tell it. And that’s where this novel shines. I came across so many passages and thoughts while meandering through these pages that simply jumped off the page at me. They grabbed my attention and felt like little nuggets of wisdom that were mined from somewhere deep inside the author. That is the power of a story, and just the realization that this is not only possible but probable with each and every story shared makes this a more than worthy read.
In a way that makes me smile, The Lost Bookshop finds a way to make one feel authentically found inside the pages of a story, no matter whether that story is fiction or reality, and no matter how the perception of its delivery might be different from our expectations. What we need in this world are more people who find a way to know exactly who they are, and this novel goes a long way toward encouraging exactly that.
Dave’s Rating: ☕️☕️☕️
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