Book Review - The Bookshop

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This simple story about a woman who opens a small bookshop in a seaside English town was very appealing but with a very sad end.

Florence Green invests all she has in the long dis-used Old House, with the front part as the bookshop and the back and upstairs her living quarters. She seems rather naive about the ways of business and sometimes lets others decide for her.

Mrs. Gamart, a local woman of money, has designs on the Old House becoming an arts centre, although she has not acted on plans for it until Mrs. Green has moved in. She uses her government employed nephew to implement a way to take the property.

Mr. Brundish, the local hermit, who never sees visitors, befriends Mrs. Green and commends her for her courage. He implores Mrs. Gamart to leave Mrs. Green and her business alone, but with dire consequences.

At book's end, Mrs. Green must face changes and also disillusionment about her life, her decisions and what she believed about others.





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