Fiction
402 pages / 2493 KB
5 Stars
I would have given this book 4.5 stars, but after reading a
bit about the author, decided to round it up to 5 Stars. There are a couple of
places where the pace slows in the middle, and a couple of places where the
word used, while correct, seems out of place, out of character. Methinks this
was written in German, and translated. Now, on to the good stuff.
Like the title says, this is a story that is about a
bookshop. Actually, a more accurate description might be a book barge. Really,
it's about Jean Perdu, the owner of the bookshop. He has an uncanny ability to
talk to people and recommend the perfect book to mend whatever is bothering
them. Everyone but his. He dies of a broken heart. For twenty one years, his
heart has been breaking and he can find no cure, until one day when he
determines it is time to move the Literary Apothecary (the name of his book
shop/barge) from her moorings, and head to the south of France where the woman
he loved went when she abandoned him.
Now, I do not, repeat DO NOT, like romance novels. But this
is a love story. It is the story of Jean Perdu coming to grips with love, with
life, and how he helps and is helped by those he meets along the way as his
barge works its way south.
When I finish a novel, I want to feel better for having read
it than before I picked it up. This book more than fulfills that criterion. I
want to invite the characters to my home, I want to take cooking lessons from
one of them (and there are actually a couple of recipes in the back of the book
that look yummy!), I want to spend more time with these people. I want to
travel on the barge.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live and
travel in a different culture, if you love armchair travels and mild
adventures, then this is the perfect book for you. I had no idea France has
such a system of waterways, and now I want to go. I want to see that part of
France. I want to travel on the Literary Apothecary. Please, come with me.
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