The Bookshop of Yesterdays. Amy Meyerson

Published: Park Row
Date:  June 12th 2018
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 368
Genre: Fiction
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Rating:
                                  

A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. She doesn't hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy--and one final scavenger hunt.

A book set in a bookshop is always going to appeal to a reader enough to draw them in, and so the cover and title did that for sure.

The story begins with some kind of mystery and conflict that is happening in Miranda's family. Miranda's mother and her brother Billy fall out in some very significant way and Miranda who adores Billy is left wondering why.  Around when she is twelve he disappears out of her life and she only connects again with him after his death.

Billy has left Miranda a bookstore and a set of clues that she must find to unravel the mystery and the conflict that surrounds her family. Her parents won't talk about it so the air of secrecy has driven a wedge between Miranda and her parents.  The clues are all related to books and passages in books and Miranda must find her way to the next one by solving the previous one.

I had worked out very early what the situation is, I think most readers would, and so I found the whole chase a little laboured.  I found that I didn't really connect too well to the characters because they were surrounded by so many details and descriptions. While the book should have been filled with emotion, somehow for me I just missed it.

Possibly those who enjoy literary fiction will like this book more, as most of the book references were from literary fiction.

What others have said.

“Meyerson writes beautifully, with lush descriptions of LA and believable interactions between characters. Prospero Books is warm, inviting, and populated with lovably quirky employees readers will want to get to know. A lovely look at loss, family, and the comfort found in a good bookstore.” —Kirkus Reviews

 “Terrifically fun… Part riddle, part mystery, part family drama, part a bookstore lover's dream, and then more." —Aimee Bender, New York Times bestselling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

“[Meyerson’s] affection for all things literary pours forth on every page and through a cast of characters every book lover will embrace.” —Charlie Lovett, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookman's Tale