Rating: 4.5 Stars
I was in the mood for a fun, light read and that is exactly what I got with The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan. The story is uplifting and warm, that centers around the meaning of family with a dash of romance and a little mystery thrown in. It made for a lovely reading experience, total escapism.
Zoe is a young mother living in a tiny flat in London with her son Hari. Hari’s father is mostly absent from their lives and provides no financial support. She is barely getting by and is one disaster away from being homeless.
Despite her circumstances, Zoe is determined to provide the best she can for Hari. Therefore, when she sees an ad for a nanny to three children in Scotland she jumps at the chance. Her hope is this will provide a more stable home life for Hari. In addition to the job as nanny, she also takes a day job running a mobile bookshop for a mother-to-be who is confined to bed rest until her baby is born.
She quickly finds that both jobs are more than she bargained for. The book van’s patrons are reluctant to buy from someone other than Nina the van’s owner. This forces Zoe to get creative in order to keep the business afloat. The 3 children she is nanny to had been described as “gifted” when “troubled” would have been a much better word to use. How will she make all of this work?
I adored the quirky characters. It seemed that even the minor characters had something unusual, or flawed, about them that endeared them to me. Either as in the case of Zoe, her intelligence that I felt hindered her common sense sometimes and, at times, left her unsure of herself, to Nina’s obsessiveness. I admired Zoe’s resilience and that she was unflappable. She had to be in order to tackle all the challenges she faced. I do wish I had understood Ramsey a little better. I know this book was not his story, yet I could not help wanting to know just a little more about him.
The plot was not the strongest I have read, but there was enough tension to keep me reading. I found myself wanting to know how Zoe was to going to handle Ramsey’s brood of hellions. I almost excepted them to play nasty tricks on Zoe, like put a snake in her bed. Some of what they did I thought was rather mild. The pacing of the plot was good and there was one revelation at the end I was not expecting that gave a little spice to the story.
Overall this is a solid feel good story and I recommend this lovely gem to readers of all kinds, especially those who like books that fall into the Women’s Fiction genre and Romance. Also, if you are looking for a beach read this book would be a perfect choice.
I received a free copy from the publisher, via Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program, in exchange for my honest review.