The Bookshop: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: so much unexplored
Review: I felt oh-hum about this book. The characters were not interesting to me, descriptions of the Old House were bland and basically uninformative. I found little to praise and certainly did not consider it "...a marvelously piercing fiction" as did the Times Library Review.

Rating:
Summary: Potential, but undeveloped
Review: This book was a recommendation from Amazon and also this month's book club selection. There was so much undeveloped. Did I miss some symbolism about the Rapper? For someone with "courage," Mrs Green totally lacked gumption in the ending. My naivete made me dislike the ending tremendously. The author could develop the character's more than she did in this very short novel. I liked the writing style and will definitely pick up the Blue Flower. I give it my sincerest ho-hum rating.

Rating:
Summary: Life is real and beyond real
Review: The end of Bookshop was difficult for me as well as other readers. It made me sad that people's directives don't last beyond the grave. The economy of style that Fitzgerald uses is wonderful and picturesque. I liked her Blue Flower better and Offshore the best.

Rating:
Summary: Not great; not horrible
Review: That sums up the town and Mrs. Green. In the story, Mrs. Green tries to start her life anew in middle age. The town refuses to change and, in fact, sends the new bookshop and its owner packing. This story and its main character grow on the reader in a quiet sort of way..

Rating:
Summary: I was not interested enough to even finish reading it.
Review: As with many readers, I was intigued with the subject of the book and being a lover of English country-sides, people and lifestyles really looked forward to curling up with this book. But I found it so tendious I could not even finish reading it. I thought the plot was lifeless, charcaters undeveloped. I wanted to get emotionally involved with Mrs. Green - there was such potential for development in this character - the place she was at in life, starting over, not quite fitting in, the bookshop not being wanted - but without the development of the plot and characters, there was no life to this book. My first experience with the author - I won't go running back quickly. A total disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: I Wanted To Like This Book. . .
Review: But, as is obvious by my one-star rating, I didn't. There was a point, about midway, that I thought there might be a substantive plot. I was wrong. I never felt Florence had passion about her bookshop - and that bothered me: The story of a woman in mid-life, putting her savings and her name on the line to open this bookshop in a small isolated town should have elicited great sympathy from me. It did not. When Mr. Brundish tells Florence that she has courage "in abundance", why don't I feel it, as the reader? The ending wasn't particularly disturbing, it merely felt contrived - a way out of a dreary story.

Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm...
Review: I agree with many of the earlier reviews about this book. I thought the premise of the book was good, the setting intriguing, and I wanted to like Mrs. Green, but I didn't feel like her character was adaquately developed. However, I enjoyed reading the book, and the ending didn't disturb me that much.

Rating:
Summary: Every word resonates
Review: This tiny book is also one of the saddest I have read. It is beautifully written, with each character coming fully to life. When I reached the end, I turned right back to the first page and read it again - for what I might have missed the first time round as well as for the pleasure of reading it again.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Review: After reading many reviews of this book (not just Amazon's), I expected to find a "jewel," but I was sadly disappointed. More of a vignette than a novel, this book's characters are not at all well-developed. We are taken through a day-to-day journey of a woman's attempt to open and run a bookshop in a village that doesn't want one. For all of us who care about reading and books, it is a marvelous premise. However, none of the relationships between characters are mined in any kind of detail, and the reader is left with a flat, one-dimensional, rather moralistic view of things.

Rating:
Summary: Read it!
Review: This book is 123 pages long. It can be read in no time--or in the time it takes to go through a jewel box, because that's how I thought of it. I wanted to be Florence's friend--what she needed more than anything else. I cared about her as i have not cared about fictional characters in most books I read. I'm keeping this book for my own personal library. Thanks, Amazon for highlighting it or I may never have bought it.