Helpful Score: 6
By the celebrated British author, this book is a tiny gem, one that packs a lot of small-town psychology into a delightful story. There is humor as well as curiosity.
Helpful Score: 5
A widow decides to open a bookshop in a town that doesn't have a book store, and only too late begins to suspect the truth...that a town
choosing to survive.
I loved this book! The language was perfectly chosen, the situations made me smile, and I even had to read some of it aloud to my husband.
Florence Green(the widow) is to be admired for her wit, and her innocent courage, that comes from simply choosing to survive. As Balzac said, the ordinariness of human lives can never be a measure of the effort it takes to keep them going.
choosing to survive.
I loved this book! The language was perfectly chosen, the situations made me smile, and I even had to read some of it aloud to my husband.
Florence Green(the widow) is to be admired for her wit, and her innocent courage, that comes from simply choosing to survive. As Balzac said, the ordinariness of human lives can never be a measure of the effort it takes to keep them going.
Helpful Score: 4
Yes, she does have a knack for creating interesting characters, but I found the ending kind of depressing, and life in Hardborough...also kind of depressing. I think I'm ready for something a little deeper...=0)
Helpful Score: 3
This is a serious book of modern literature. In only 123 pages, Fitzgerald delivers portraits of unforgettable characters in a difficult situation when an "outsider" retiree opens a bookstore in 1959 in a small English hamlet, Hardborough--foreshadowing intended. What can be accomplished in so few pages is remarkable. And the book rises in my estimation every week since I've finished reading it. It's an eye-opener.
Helpful Score: 2
Wow, this was boring! I don't usually mind a slow pace as long as the story is good or the descriptions are vivid and interesting, but I just didn't get anything out of this one. And I missed the humor too, I guess it was waaayyy too dry for me.
Helpful Score: 2
A delightful little book, well-written story of widow who decides to open a book shop in a small village. She defies the local powerful dame and even warms the heart of the old widower who hasn't left his home in years. I won't spoil the ending, you should read the book. Strong woman, strong girl, great story. Now I'm waiting for the movie, out soon.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a short read and thoroughly enjoyable. Meant to be read slowly to understand the sprinkles of British humor in one line sentences as well as whole paragraphs. This is a story of a widow that buys an old building and starts a book shop with a lending library in a small town in Britain. The area is near a fishing area and its written so well you can smell the fish. The shopowner deals with the banker, the accountant, her employees and her customers in a very dry witty way. The heighth of the story is a customer asking for the classic erotic book Lolita. Once she decides to stock the book business rockets upward. She tries to expand through getting the building registerd as a historic place and has to endure the politics to get it done. A must read for bookshop owners and other people who frequent bookshops.
Helpful Score: 1
A middle-aged widow opens a book shop in a tiny coastal village. Extremely dry British wit.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an interesting story about the downsides of living in a small village in Great Britain. It is well told, if slightly depressing. A quick read.
A little gem, if you are open to melancholia with a helping of dark wit. I particularly liked the fact that the protagonist, Florence, isn't a heroine for the ages. Her plan to open a bookstore seems a little arbitrary and unfocused, based purely on her memories of a happy interlude when she started work at a London bookstore, as a 16-year-old. She doesn't even seem to be a big reader -- perhaps what the bookstore represents to her is a time before the disappointments in her life -- a husband, dead, before their marriage has been properly begun; no children or other family; no real ambitions --have clouded over whatever spirit she has. When Florence does show some backbone in dealing with the nay-sayers who are trying to crush her modest dream (and believe me, I cheered!), it tends to backfire.
This could be one for fans of the wonderful Mapp and Lucia books, by E. F. Benson -- for an insight into how awful it would be, in reality, to live in a world dominated by Queen Bees and Guardians of Tradition like Mapp and Lucia!
This could be one for fans of the wonderful Mapp and Lucia books, by E. F. Benson -- for an insight into how awful it would be, in reality, to live in a world dominated by Queen Bees and Guardians of Tradition like Mapp and Lucia!
Wow, this book was difficult to read. The sentences seem to contain too much information at times that I got lost in its meaning. It is written by an English author, so many of the words are unfamiliar to me and I had to stop and look them up. I wish there was a resource to help a reader understand the meaning of a sentence if it is confusing. If there is, I haven't found it.
As I neared the end, I actually started to understand it better and found it interesting. I didn't like the ending, but I feel it is worth reading. If you are looking for something different, this would definitely be in that category.
As I neared the end, I actually started to understand it better and found it interesting. I didn't like the ending, but I feel it is worth reading. If you are looking for something different, this would definitely be in that category.
Very short - Written in English but the British way of phrasing took some deciphering, conversations sometimes left me a bit confused - interesting characters - disappointing ending
This was a good enough story but the ending was kind of depressing.
This is a unique piece of literature; it is about small-town life in England (and probably other places, as well) in the 1950-60s. This fairly short story (less than 200 pages), is about a good-hearted widow who wants to open a bookshop. The author shows the reader the life of a newcomer who tries to open a business where someone else wants to place an art center. Florence Green soon learns that what she's offering is not wanted, but, being a good person, thinks she can change opinions through her kindness and fairness.
The reader sees the heroine grow. She takes over an old house (complete with ghosts) and creates a bookstore in an area without a ready source of books.; Before long, she meets with a modest amount of success. But there are those in town who will try to erode away her success, just as the marshes and land erode nearby.
At the end of the story, I know that Florence is a stronger person than when she started. This is beautifully written, even if the story is realistic and sometimes harsh. And I feel that I've learned something from Florence's trials. This author spoke to me through her words.
The reader sees the heroine grow. She takes over an old house (complete with ghosts) and creates a bookstore in an area without a ready source of books.; Before long, she meets with a modest amount of success. But there are those in town who will try to erode away her success, just as the marshes and land erode nearby.
At the end of the story, I know that Florence is a stronger person than when she started. This is beautifully written, even if the story is realistic and sometimes harsh. And I feel that I've learned something from Florence's trials. This author spoke to me through her words.
I needed some help in appreciating this author whose novels are comedies of manners, a British type of humor that often escapes the American reader. You can find an excellent essay on Fitzgerald in Joan Acocella's book Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints.
A middle-aged widow, Florence Green, opens a bookstore in a remote English village in 1959. We meet a cast of characters in the village including a society matron who wants an arts center and uses money, politics, and influence to eventually get her way. Short read at 123 pages. But not a lot of character development outside of the main character and Christine, an 11 year old girl who works for her in the shop. I liked Florence's no nonsense but kind personality. She was very English proper and with dry wit. But I was disappointed by the sad ending.
