A review by rachelzellem
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

3.0

It drives me nuts when people (myself included) give things half stars, but sometimes it's just necessary. Yet another book that I struggled to get through, by which I mean that when I had a few spare minutes here and there, I wasn't eager to pick it up and read it. So it took me a while to finish. It wasn't bad or boring, but I just didn't care enough about it most of the time.

The piece that I found exceptionally interesting and compelling was

Spoiler

the notion that in the 60s, when this book took place, people believed that children became autistic due to a lack of maternal affection. This idea was propagated by medical professionals who basically told mothers that their kids' challenges were THEIR fault. This needless guilt added so much depth to Katharyn's pain, and

it made the whole book a little more interesting - in fact, it's the reason for that extra half star.

The only context in which I would recommend reading this book is for potential juicy book club discussion, particularly around the subject hidden here for spoilers.