I hadn’t come across The Village Green Bookshop until I saw
a post by author Miranda Dickinson who was singing its praises. Miranda has
lead me to many hidden gems over the years that I wouldn’t have usually picked
up so I was looking forward to reading The Village Green Bookshop.
Frustrated that
she spends all her time as either a mum to a football-obsessed teenager or a
wife to a workaholic husband, Hannah wants something for herself. When the
chance comes to take over the Post Office in Little Maudley, a charming
Cotswold village, Hannah grabs it with both hands. She’ll have a career at last
and also get her son Ben away from his trouble-making mates.
But village life is not so picture-perfect after
all: Hannah finds herself an outsider in this tight-knit community where the
height of your hedge is a gossip-worthy subject. Even her idea to introduce a
small bookshop to the Post Office causes a stir. At least Ben seems to have
found his place as he joins the local football team, coached by ex-professional
Jake Lovatt. But a shocking secret from their past threatens to uproot the new
life they’ve made for themselves, and has drastic consequences…
This novel couldn’t have come at a better time for me with
life so complicated at the moment and the bank holiday approaching I needed
pure escapism with a simple storyline that would brighten my weekend and that
was what I found in The Village Green Bookshop and more!
Hannah’s life as she knows it has been completely pulled out
from under her feet and yet she doesn’t sit and mope she grabs life with both
hands and focuses on what she wants and needs in life to make her happy and to
create a better future for her troublesome son Ben. Her character was so
selfless and like many of us has reached a time in her life where she can see
how much she does for everyone else putting everyone’s wants and needs before her
own and I was routing for her to start living and enjoying her life.
I think every bookworm has that hidden desire to work in a
library or a bookshop so it is no surprise that books that feature the running
of book businesses lure us in and by the end have us desperate to throw in the
towel and upsticks and follow the dream like Hannah did.
I love the sound of a close nit village life with the
community spirit knitting everyone together and this can be felt in this novel
but it also shows the opposite side where tongues are wagging and no secret is
ever safe! We meet numerous amount of the villagers and they all bring a little
character to the storyline.
I love how Racheal Lucas has expertly managed to create such
a simple easy flowing storyline that captured my heart and attention from the
start, her storytelling is so light and uplifting and certainly provided me
with the escapism that I needed. Ok so the romance was completely predictable but
at the same time it was so honest and believable too so although the suspense factor
wasn’t there, I still enjoyed watching the romance blossom.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Village Green Bookshop and the
authors writing style is expertly crafted so I will now be going off to find one
of her backlist books The Telephone Box Library.
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