Name: The Library of Unrequited Love
Rating: 3 (5 reviews)
ISBN: 9780857051417

Sophie Divry

One morning a librarian finds a reader who has been locked in overnight. She begins to talk to him, a one-way conversation full of sharp insight and quiet outrage

The Library of Unrequited Love

Jill

Oh how I longed for this! I should probably start off by saying I’ve been eyeing this for a while now and while I have been unsuccessful in procuring a hard copy, I did get an e-book one and I’m so glad I did because I would’ve been terribly disappointed in having to pay for such a pretentious excuse for a book. <br /><br />I love books (obviously) and libraries. But this one depicted the stereotypical librarians we all saw in TV and read about in books some 20 years ago or so. This was a monologue BTW, and to say that the character was horrible would be an understatement. You see, when I read a particular line from this (didn’t highlight it sorry) I thought it was just her being satirical but no, she was pretentious, egotistical, judgmental, pessimistic towards her job that she claimed she loved, thinks that she is “cultured” and looked down on others. Really, really horrible. I’m glad this was only 90+ pages long, I wouldn’t have been able to bear being inside the head of someone like her for even one more page longer.

Caitlin Berger

What a cute book! Full of meaning and importance as well as funny moments. A must read for any and all book lovers!!!

Deepika Ramesh

Moray Lyle McIntosh

El Pais called The Library of Unrequited Love "a thrilling soliloquy, an exciting breath of love." The librarian, a single, middle-aged woman, a sharply opinionated and thoughtful bookworm, whose ex-boyfriend left her for another woman, discovers one morning a patron who has been locked in over night. Against her quiet nature, she starts to talk to him, what results is a soliloquy of frustrations, observations, and anguish, covering--with wit, pathos, and passion--history, literature, the Dewey Decimal System, love, and loneliness, as well as revealing her unrequited passion for a quiet student-researcher named Martin, whose studiousness, grace, and "beautiful neck" strikes her. Divry's prose is seamless--never laborious--both funny and poignant. The book's compactness offers an immersive reading experience that touches universal emotional experiences from the perspective of a bookworm.

The Library of Unrequited Love

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