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myhandmadehell's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I am always a little surprised when I pick up a romance novel and find that it’s actually quite good. I don’t know WHY I’m surprised; there’s certainly no rule that romance books shouldn’t be good. But I’m pleasantly surprised nonetheless when I find a romance that makes me think about things from a different angle, or when, in the case of Bohemian by Kathryn Nolan, I find a book that, if the romance were not the primary plot, and the sex scenes weren’t so very, very spicy, would probably find its home comfortably in the “contemporary literary fiction” shelf.
Bohemian is the story of a man, Calvin, who’s lived the life he was “supposed” to live, and loved it - until his off-the-beaten-path grandfather dies and leaves Calvin his 50-year-old bookstore in remote Big Sur, a store that once held readings and workshops and became a Mecca of the Beat movement and is now crumbling under the unstoppable weight of modern life and the immovable stubbornness of an owner who refused to change his perspective. As its new owner, Calvin is sorely tempted to sell, but is advised to wait until a moneymaking event takes place a few months later: a fashion photo shoot had been booked at the location and might help Calvin settle some of the store’s debts before shutting its doors forever.
Enter Lucia, a supermodel of Kate Moss fame, and the star of the steamy photo shoot that will disrupt Calvin’s quiet Big Sur life: a life he’s only just started to feel settled into. Lucia surprises him: her beauty of course is not a shock, he’s seen her before and knows who she is. But it’s her fiery sense of humor and, critically, her seemingly endless knowledge of poetry, literature, and the Beat movement that snags Calvin’s attention.
Several days into the photo shoot, when Calvin and Lucia are prepared for their baffling flirtation to end abruptly when she returns to LA, a massive storm strikes Big Sur, and roads are closed for days. Suddenly, Calvin and Lucia have another chance to see where this might go.
Bohemian is achingly beautiful to read. Not in the sense that great literary works are beautiful but in the sense that Nolan clearly loves words and almost ruthlessly scatters poetic words and descriptions throughout the pages like bread crumbs. Unlike other “books about reading”, which tend to fall back on the classics everyone’s heard of, Nolan digs a little deeper into literature and poetry’s history, sharing stories and snippets of poets like Allen Ginsberg, Mary Oliver, and Pablo Neruda. The story itself becomes a communication and a dance in poetry, and is truly a love letter to the written word.
The book has a HEA ending for our heroes (although with so many options for both I found myself hoping, but not guessing, what the outcome would be), but the true romance in the book, as is the case in many of my favorite romances, is the love story each character has with themselves. Watching these characters dance around each other, both already on the precipice of major life decisions, and feed themselves with their burgeoning love and the gorgeous setting of redwoods, cliffs, and crashing oceans is a true joy. The stakes felt high, and I found myself caring desperately for both main characters, as individuals and as a unit, as though they were my own friends, standing at crossroads that are closer to each other than they could have imagined.
While the book is not as diverse as I’d like it to be (there seems to be one non-white character who does speak her native language - along with a main character who has learned that language - without translation), the author has an intriguing approach to diversity. Namely, she points out when a character is white. This may not seem like a big deal, but I do like the gentle assertion by Nolan here that white is not the “default” and therefore a character’s whiteness should be specifically called out just as any author would call out non-whiteness.
The spice is spicy and electric, the language is beautiful (and correct! Three cheers for any author who uses the word “bemused” correctly!), the setting is a character in and of itself, and the two leads are fascinating, whole, and fully formed people who feel a lot like you and me. I really enjoyed this book and I hope others will feel similarly moved.
Bohemian is the story of a man, Calvin, who’s lived the life he was “supposed” to live, and loved it - until his off-the-beaten-path grandfather dies and leaves Calvin his 50-year-old bookstore in remote Big Sur, a store that once held readings and workshops and became a Mecca of the Beat movement and is now crumbling under the unstoppable weight of modern life and the immovable stubbornness of an owner who refused to change his perspective. As its new owner, Calvin is sorely tempted to sell, but is advised to wait until a moneymaking event takes place a few months later: a fashion photo shoot had been booked at the location and might help Calvin settle some of the store’s debts before shutting its doors forever.
Enter Lucia, a supermodel of Kate Moss fame, and the star of the steamy photo shoot that will disrupt Calvin’s quiet Big Sur life: a life he’s only just started to feel settled into. Lucia surprises him: her beauty of course is not a shock, he’s seen her before and knows who she is. But it’s her fiery sense of humor and, critically, her seemingly endless knowledge of poetry, literature, and the Beat movement that snags Calvin’s attention.
Several days into the photo shoot, when Calvin and Lucia are prepared for their baffling flirtation to end abruptly when she returns to LA, a massive storm strikes Big Sur, and roads are closed for days. Suddenly, Calvin and Lucia have another chance to see where this might go.
Bohemian is achingly beautiful to read. Not in the sense that great literary works are beautiful but in the sense that Nolan clearly loves words and almost ruthlessly scatters poetic words and descriptions throughout the pages like bread crumbs. Unlike other “books about reading”, which tend to fall back on the classics everyone’s heard of, Nolan digs a little deeper into literature and poetry’s history, sharing stories and snippets of poets like Allen Ginsberg, Mary Oliver, and Pablo Neruda. The story itself becomes a communication and a dance in poetry, and is truly a love letter to the written word.
The book has a HEA ending for our heroes (although with so many options for both I found myself hoping, but not guessing, what the outcome would be), but the true romance in the book, as is the case in many of my favorite romances, is the love story each character has with themselves. Watching these characters dance around each other, both already on the precipice of major life decisions, and feed themselves with their burgeoning love and the gorgeous setting of redwoods, cliffs, and crashing oceans is a true joy. The stakes felt high, and I found myself caring desperately for both main characters, as individuals and as a unit, as though they were my own friends, standing at crossroads that are closer to each other than they could have imagined.
While the book is not as diverse as I’d like it to be (there seems to be one non-white character who does speak her native language - along with a main character who has learned that language - without translation), the author has an intriguing approach to diversity. Namely, she points out when a character is white. This may not seem like a big deal, but I do like the gentle assertion by Nolan here that white is not the “default” and therefore a character’s whiteness should be specifically called out just as any author would call out non-whiteness.
The spice is spicy and electric, the language is beautiful (and correct! Three cheers for any author who uses the word “bemused” correctly!), the setting is a character in and of itself, and the two leads are fascinating, whole, and fully formed people who feel a lot like you and me. I really enjoyed this book and I hope others will feel similarly moved.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Addiction, Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Body shaming
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