Review: The Bookshop

The Bookshop

Morality is seldom a safe guide for human conduct.

-Penelope Fitzgerald

‘The Bookshop’ is a story of a middle-aged warm-hearted widow Mrs Florence Green living in a quaint seaside town of Hardborough in the 1950. After living a lonely life for too long and having seen a weird dream multiple times Florence decides to risk her little inheritance to open a Bookshop in the uninhabited Old House of the town.

Just like any small town the news spreads like wildfire and Florence receives mixed reactions to her decision including a party invite to the art enthusiast and influential Mrs. Gamart’s house who encourages Florence to rather buy another vacant shop than the Old House to run a bookshop.

She also decides to run a lending library on her friends advice but it turns into a disaster every time yet after employing 11yr old Christine she sees great improvement in her business. After making a bold decision to sell a book like ‘Lolita’ Mrs. Greens makes a good business which invites jealousy of her neighbor. Nevertheless Mrs. Gamart uses every tactic in her books to force Florence to leave the Old House .

In less than 120 pages Penelope Fitzgerald narrates the story of courage, trial and despondency. What I liked about the author is that unlike classic English authors, Penelope doesn’t waste her words on flowery descriptions. Instead she gives you fair details about her character and landscape so one can paint their own picture. I loved the book although some might wonder what’s so unique about it that it was shortlisted for Booker Prize.

I completed the book last night and felt defeated. So I just closed my eyes and slept over it, calling it a fictional story in a fictional world where the courage of a woman to run a bookshop was unwelcomed.

But today morning as I finished my work in a government office and walked past the old buildings to catch a ride my legs freezed in front of the exuberant empty Public Library of my town and I wondered, if ever a cunning rich business person or a corrupt official decides to bring down this library to build a theater/mall how many citizens will object to the brutal murder of reading culture. Or would anyone of us ever support those who do?

The book written in 1978 made me look into the soul of the city and its people. It’s not that my city lacks book shops or libraries, it has many but their plight is similar to the book shop of Hardborough.