Penelope Fitzgerald

From the Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Offshore’, ‘The Blue Flower’ and ‘Innocence’ comes this Booker Prize-shortlisted story of books and busybodies in East Anglia.

The Bookshop

Nathan Johnson

“What play did they put on?” asked Florence. 

“The day we went it was Hansel and Gretel. There's singing in it. They didn't do it all - they did the bit where the boy and girl lie down and get fresh together, and the angels come in and cover them with leaves.”

“You didn't understand the play, Wally. Hansel and Gretel are brother and sister.”

“That doesn't make it any different, Mrs Green.”

M. Marques

This was too boring. I forced myself to keep going, to see if something would happen to keep me interested... but it never did. I'm glad it was short so I can finally read something else.

The bookshop

Ri Liu

A melancholy book with some poignant lines and a solid ending.

Irene Alegre

I don't particularly love Jane Austen, but comparing this novel to her work (Like Byatt seems to do from what it says on the cover)is far from fair. The Bookshop has nothing to do with anything I've read from Austen (even if I only read her two most famous novels). 

It is an ok novella, but I would have liked a bit more of everything, like character development (at least for Florence and Christine) and some further explanation/exploration on the lack of interest for reading and books.

Mrs Green goes through at least an entire YEAR but to me it felt like a WEEK. Everything stayed exactly the same for the whole novel, and while this might sound very realistic, it is far from appealing.

I don't know. I'll keep waiting for something better to come on my way.

Sarah Escorsa

What a delightful little book! It was a bit too short but I loved the atmosphere that pervades the book. I'd never heard of Penelope Fitzgerald before reading this but I'll definitely try to read some of her other books in the future:)

roosmarijn

“Understanding makes the mind lazy.”
The perfect way to capture the book in just a couple of words.

This book is quietly devastating.

It raises questions, sets the pathways to clichés, creates connections - but never answers, never gives into those clichés and never forms those connections.

Its sad in a way that tears at your heart but oddly cheerful and humorous at the same time.

It reads like a train that stops at every station: smooth and beautiful with many pauses and many obstructions.

Its one of those books that whispers to you from behind the written words and for being a book about books it says impressively little about them.

You have to read it to understand,
but then again
understanding makes the mind lazy.

Sam Durbin

Lisa Haigh

A long read for such a short book. I fell in love with neither the story nor the characters which is a shame. Not sure I’d revisit this book in the future.

Sarah Erle

Sarah Sammis

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.

Naveen Sheik

Eftyhia Hazel Malloch

Deepika Ramesh

Joycelyn Ghansah

"A marvelously piercing fiction" (Times Literary Supplement), shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Featuring an introduction by David Nicholls.

The Bookshop

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