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helen_moore_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
cctblog's review
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Set in 1950, Bloomsbury Girls is the story of a bookshop in London - Bloomsbury Books - and the people who work there. While the novel focuses on the shop's three female employees, Evie, Grace, and Vivien, from time to time the reader glimpses the story from a male employee's point of view.
Bloomsbury Books is managed by Mr. Dutton, an old-fashioned man (though not without his scandalous secrets) who set a list of rules to be followed at all times. Each of the short chapters in the novel is headed by one of those rules, and I loved seeing how the rules fit into the larger story.
Relationships, both good and bad, are the focus of the novel. Some long-standing and fraught with misunderstanding, others new and tentative - all have a profound impact on the characters. Each woman also gets a taste of romance, and I found Evie's and Grace's love stories to be so sweet.
Also, a quick mention of the audiobook - I went back and forth between the audio version and the ebook, and I found the narration to be delightful...and also too slow, even when I sped it up! Simply put, I can read a book much faster than I can listen to one, but if you are a fan of audio, you'll enjoy this.
Finally, I have to point out that there is a character list at the beginning, which always helps me immensely when I'm beginning a new book. (And the way Vivien is referenced made me chuckle.) 4 stars.
(Content note: Some sensitive themes, including sexual affairs, abuse, racism, and same-sex relationships, are included, though nothing is ever graphic in any way.)
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.
Bloomsbury Books is managed by Mr. Dutton, an old-fashioned man (though not without his scandalous secrets) who set a list of rules to be followed at all times. Each of the short chapters in the novel is headed by one of those rules, and I loved seeing how the rules fit into the larger story.
Relationships, both good and bad, are the focus of the novel. Some long-standing and fraught with misunderstanding, others new and tentative - all have a profound impact on the characters. Each woman also gets a taste of romance, and I found Evie's and Grace's love stories to be so sweet.
Also, a quick mention of the audiobook - I went back and forth between the audio version and the ebook, and I found the narration to be delightful...and also too slow, even when I sped it up! Simply put, I can read a book much faster than I can listen to one, but if you are a fan of audio, you'll enjoy this.
Finally, I have to point out that there is a character list at the beginning, which always helps me immensely when I'm beginning a new book. (And the way Vivien is referenced made me chuckle.) 4 stars.
(Content note: Some sensitive themes, including sexual affairs, abuse, racism, and same-sex relationships, are included, though nothing is ever graphic in any way.)
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
reading_ladies_blog's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Domestic abuse
celebrationofbooks's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I was the bookseller begging and pleading with the publisher to have a copy of this book as soon as absolutely possible and my persistence was rewarded with a bound manuscript back in September. I read the entirety of Bloomsbury Girls in just over 48 hours, a miracle for someone who had been struggling to read a full book for nearly six months. I'll describe Bloomsbury Girls just as I did Yours, Cheerfully, as a book that felt like returning to all your old friends after nearly two years of great change and uncertainty.
When I read The Jane Austen Society, we were only a month into the pandemic and the bookstore was still completely closed and I missed it dearly. I remarked that Natalie, as a former bookseller, had written the perfect book for booksellers with her debut, an absolute booksellers' dream of a novel. And now she has topped herself. While I think I will always love The Jane Austen Society more, Bloomsbury Girls has forced me to redefine my expectation of the perfect bookseller book; Bloomsbury Girls is the perfect book for booksellers.
When I read The Jane Austen Society, we were only a month into the pandemic and the bookstore was still completely closed and I missed it dearly. I remarked that Natalie, as a former bookseller, had written the perfect book for booksellers with her debut, an absolute booksellers' dream of a novel. And now she has topped herself. While I think I will always love The Jane Austen Society more, Bloomsbury Girls has forced me to redefine my expectation of the perfect bookseller book; Bloomsbury Girls is the perfect book for booksellers.
Natalie's books have helped me identify a new favorite subgenre, one I'm calling mid-century feminist historical fiction with a touch of coziness. Within each of the booksellers of Bloomsbury Books, I found myself and each of my coworkers. As someone who has always been part of a staff at the store of mostly women with a man at the helm, I could overwhelmingly relate (not a knock on my bosses, but sometimes they just don't think of things as women do).
In Alec, head of fiction, I saw my current boss, the man who loves spending time on the floor talking about his favorite books but leaves the back office work in chaos. In Mr. Dutton, general manager, my former boss, happy to continue on as things were with a great wealth of knowledge of the book world. In Evie, the many girls who have come through the store who were shelving whizzes and who taught me so much about how Gen Z appreciates backlist titles they found on Book Tok. In Ash, head of science, my own husband (though not a bookstore employee, but a customer of said store for 30 years). And in Grace and Vivien, myself. In Grace, the need to keep everything organized and on track, and in Vivien, the spark to have women's voices heard and elevated on all the shelves.
Bloomsbury Books is a shop run by men in the world of men. But in 1950, the world of men is changing. The women of the world went to work during WWII and were not too happy to just pack it in and go back to being mothers and housewives and secretaries. The world of men in academia faced a reckoning as well, which lands our dear Evie at Bloomsbury Books with a score to settle with the men of Cambridge. The women of Bloomsbury Books do not have the trust funds and family money to settle back on if things don't work out, they are middle class women working because they need to, as so many of us do today. For them to reach their goals, luck and fate often need to intervene because sheer hard work is not enough if they're up against a man for the same position.
And lucky for us, dear readers, luck and fate find their way to Grace, Vivien and dear Evie, in the form of many well, and sometimes less well, known women of the literary world of the mid-twentieth century, including one very well known gothic writer and a few prominent widows. The women know what it is to work hard for little recognition and take our booksellers under wing to tremendous effect.
Bloomsbury Girls is the perfect book for not only booksellers (though it will be greatly loved by those of us who peddle books for a living) but for anyone who longs to see women doing great things in a time when the odds were stacked even higher against them. It's a must read for historical fiction lovers, and for those who love my new favorite subgenre, feminist mid-century historical fiction with a hint of coziness, as well!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse
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