The Bookshop Paperback – June 9, 2015

This book is probably one of the best, yet criminally underrated, works of literature I have read in a long time. SPOILER ALERT: The synopsis is basic: Widow decides to open bookshop in community that has none. Bookshop struggles, does well briefly, then falls in popularity. High Society Doyenne finds way to evict bookshop lady, and crushes her dream. Sounds pretty bland, right? However, Fitzgerald is one more masterful writer, along with possessing a keen insight into human nature. She also understands how small towns, particularly those of the more isolated variety that the story is set in, tick. The bookshop is received fairly well by some, not so well by others, and on the whole, everybody works, whether consciously or unconsciously, to undermine the bookshop. Penelope Fitzgerald demonstrates that failure in life is not the greatest injustice one can endure; in fact, failure is an incredibly minor happenstance to the greatest injustice in life, which Florence Greene endures. That greatest injustice is living in a community, thinking you have a place in it, and finding out, when the floor vanishes beneath ones' feet, how truly unwanted you are in the place you have called home. This novel definitely doesn't have a happy ending, but it is very satisfying, but also very sad, so keep a box of tissues nearby for the last couple of chapters. I highly recommend this book.

This is a well written and engaging book. I journeyed with Florence (the main character) throughout her efforts. And I hated it. But here’s why... the people in the book are largely awful, the main character clueless and naive, the townspeople mostly despicable in character... and it’s just too much like real life!! No happy endings here!! So sad!! However, you feel every bit of Florence’s puzzlement, her genuine effort, and in the end her shame as she internalizes the failure of the bookshop that is not entirely her fault (though she certainly contributed to it). Sigh. Poor Florence!

It's hard not to root for Florence Green, a war widow who, with no real family or friends to speak of, determines to open a bookshop in her small village of Hardborough in mid-century England. Part of this is, of course, because I'm a reader, and I love books. Bookshops are a place of worship for me. I mean, who WOULDN'T want a bookshop in their quaint little seaside village? I wanted Florence's venture to be a success precisely because of her meager circumstances and the harsh, cold and salty place she inhabits.The town of Hardborough (I mean "hard" is right there in the name) is filled with many colorful characters, few of whom seem to believe that Florence will make a go of her plan. Though described as rather mousy, her character doesn't hesitate to take on a patronizing bank manager, a smug social matron, the mysterious town hermit or the multiple other village members who contrive to undermine her endeavor. With each small accomplishment -- purchasing the Old House building for her bookshop, cleaning up the property, setting up shop, hiring a young girl for help, making sales, and starting a lending library -- you believe that Mrs. Green can make the bookshop into a life-long occupation.The trouble in the story all happens when Florence unknowingly purchases property that the town grand dame, Mrs. Gamart, had personally earmarked for a town cultural center. One wonders why, if Mrs. Gamart was so keen on having her arts organization in the place Florence purchased, she didn't do so well before Florence (who had also been living there for years) opened her shop. All of the sudden Mrs. Gamart begins a subtle campaign to undermine Florence, stopping at nothing and stooping to any level to get what she wants.On the whole, I found the book funny but in that kind of dry, "stiff upper lip" humor that the British are famous for. The humor is peppered through the story in offhanded ways instead of trying to be obvious. One of my laugh-out-loud moments was when Christine Gipping, Mrs. Green's hired help, won the part of Salome in the holiday Nativity Play and got to wear her older sister's bikini while dancing to a song by Lonnie Donegan called "Putting on the Agony, Putting on the Style." Out of curiosity, I looked up the song online. Not sure what your religious education was like, but I surely don't remember the Christmas story ever involving Salome dancing for Herod much less to something as catchy a song from the King of Skiffle. It's in small snippets such as this that Fitzgerald's storytelling really shines, and you can get a deeper sense of her personality beyond writing.I'm not sure that I didn't like anything about the book, per se, but the book isn't my usual. I didn't care for the ending at all (although it was well written), and so the book lost a star.Favorite Excerpts"She had once seen a heron flying across the estuary and trying, while it was on the wing, to swallow an eel which it had caught. The eel, in turn, was struggling to escape from the gullet of the heron and appeared a quarter, a half or occasionally three-quarters of the way out. The indecision expressed by both creatures was pitiable. They had taken on too much.""She had a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation."“Old age is not the same thing as historical interest," he said. "Otherwise we should both of us be more interesting than we are."RatingWhen I finished the book, I decided that I did not like it, but after some thought, I realized that the ending, though unsatisfying is aligned with the very best of literary fiction because its effect is to make the reader consider the ending and WHY Florence Green feels as she does at the end. Still, because of the ending and because this particular story was not one I would ever read again or keep on my shelf, I did not give it five stars. Certainly, the writing is engaging. Fitzgerald's ability to conjure a character or setting with the greatest economy of words is exceptional. The characters are unique, and I enjoyed the funny bits.I should add that I did like the story enough to arrange a Amazon Prime Watch Party for my book club next month in which we will view the screen version of the book with Emily Mortimer (The News Room, Mary Poppins Returns, Our Idiot Brother), Bill Nighy (Hope Gap, About Time, Love Actually), and Patricia Clarkson (Six Feet Under, Sharp Objects, House of Cards).

I read this book for a Book Club which is facilitated by an English professor. It is well-written; however, it is beginning to feel 'dated,' even though Fitzgerald's basic thesis that human nature and the pettiness of small towns do not change holds true. And while I am not such a Pollyanna -- demanding a happy ending to every story -- this tale is extremely depressing, because its cynicism of goodness being naïve is relentless.

This was a charming book. It was a quick read and one that I will remember. The bookshop should have been a wonderful business to begin in a small town but was not accepted well by most of the members of the community. I enjoy any bookshop or library stories and how well it usually brings everyone together. This book was well written and kept me involved in the drama unfolding....I just wish it had ended differently. I would read more by this author.