The Bookshop on the Corner

by Jenny Colgan

This wasn’t just a read it was therapy.
I picked it up after just a few words of the blurb; after all what is there not to move about a woman who is completely obsessed about books? There wasn’t a chance I was going to leave this one on the shelf.
But did I like what I got? Well, mostly yes.
The story was about Nina, a woman left reeling when she loses the only job that she has ever truly loved, the one that she was absolutely born to do. But when one door closes another one opens and Nina finds herself at one of those cross roads moments in life, the sort of situation that gives rise to the opportunity to grab life by the scruff of the neck and take a chance and that is exactly what Nina does because rather than fall back into the daily grind and take a job that she knows her heart isn’t in, she takes steps to not only make her dreams come true but to also make herself happy in the process.
Leaving her current life behind, she ups sticks and moves north of the border, unwittingly I may add, she hadn’t intended on staying in the area after buying the old bread van that she hoped to turn her dreams into reality with. So what was her dream, well it was to once again surround herself with books and to have her own mobile book store.
I loved that the locals were excited to have Nina and her bookstore in their town, but was it enough for her?
I felt the story with regards to the effort that Nina was putting into starting again was written well, I liked that she was taking control of her life, I liked her friend Surinder and the enthusiasm she bestowed on Nina, the encouragement that she gave her for her project and for her direction. There were times though that she was a little too fluffy for my liking but she I certainly felt like she was an asset to the storyline.
So what about her love life, what about the romance?
Well I think the way the author introduced that particular element of the story was fabulous, I loved the fact that the main man was so normal, he didn’t hide the man he was or what he wanted and as for Nina she had to learn to allow herself to enjoy the romance that was on offer and while the story was romantic, I did find it a little stuttered at times.
The story was well told, it was beautifully written and carried itself with an air of almost familiarity. It told its story well and while not all plain sailing it wasn’t what I could in all consciousness call angsty in any way. It all ran fairly smoothly and while it had a few little hiccups along the way I think I would ultimately describe the story as being both comfortable and comforting.