A review by bookbelle5_17
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

Review of The Lost Book Shop 
By: Evie Woods
This charming narrative tells the story of two women, Martha, a woman escaping an abusive marriage to Ireland, and Opaline, escaping an arranged marriage made by her brother to open a bookshop in Ireland. 
            I loved this story about finding yourself through literature and the whimsy of bookshops, though the book was not always happy.  The plot deals with escaping abuse and the horrors of how women were accused of insanity and put in an asylum because men didn’t like ‘hysterical” women.   I liked both Martha and Opaline for their strength and vulnerability.  They were both brave in their way, despite the suffering they experience.  Henry, Martha’s love interest, was charming and awkward, but has trouble being honest about his feelings. Him being an academic was a plus for me.   Madame Bowden is fun with her eccentricities and protecting Martha in her own unique way.   I liked Sylvia, but didn’t we get as much time with her as I would have liked.  Lyndon is such a monstrous human being and I hated him.  He tries to justify his actions making it seem he did the lesser evil of the options.  I have heard of Shakespeare and Company and it being part of Opaline’s story was cool to read about.  Though, this is fiction, and I don’t if the way the story includes the store is historically accurate. I had fun reading the subplot that was the literary mystery, and I don’t mean the lost bookshop itself, which was a cool concept to read it.   I haven’t read a lot of stories set in Ireland and reading about Ireland was magical with the beautiful descriptions to show us the Irish setting.  The bookshop was described so invitingly and loved how she set it up with displays of various objects the original owner had.  It was hard to read the parts where we hear about the abuse Martha experienced and it was also difficult to read the parts in the asylum.  World War II was featured in Opaline’s story, but it doesn’t play as big of a role in this story.  This was a great heartwarming read and I will read it again at some point..
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