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A review by strawberrymivvy
The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was an OK read but it felt as if the author didn't quite know what she wanted - as if she wanted to step away from WWII fiction but she didn't make the leap particularly successfully, and this felt like 1960s fiction in name only, with the characters for the most part behaving as if they were in the 1940s.
Celia is a London teenager working in a used bookstore, with a fractious relationship with her parents and seeking excitement. When a handsome American comes into the shop she thinks her prayers have been answered. In a dual timeline we read about Anya, working with the resistance in WWII France. The bulk of the novel takes place in 1960s London, with the backdrop being the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This was one of those novels where the coincidences just piled up too much to be in any way believable, that the secondary characters involved just happened to walk into the shop where Celia worked etc etc
Whilst I did finish it I did not particularly enjoy the novel and was frustrated and irritated by silly mistakes and those coincidences.
Celia is a London teenager working in a used bookstore, with a fractious relationship with her parents and seeking excitement. When a handsome American comes into the shop she thinks her prayers have been answered. In a dual timeline we read about Anya, working with the resistance in WWII France. The bulk of the novel takes place in 1960s London, with the backdrop being the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This was one of those novels where the coincidences just piled up too much to be in any way believable, that the secondary characters involved just happened to walk into the shop where Celia worked etc etc
Whilst I did finish it I did not particularly enjoy the novel and was frustrated and irritated by silly mistakes and those coincidences.