Found in a Bookshop

'Heartwarming, emotional and full of kindness . . . life-affirming' Sara Nisha Adams

By: Stephanie Butland

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Dear Lost for Words,

We are trying to stay at home . . . I am enclosing a cheque and I hope that you will use it to send us some books. Please choose books that we might think are wonderful.

Rosemary

Loveday Cardew's beloved Lost for Words bookshop, along with the rest of York, has fallen quiet. At the very time when people most need books to widen their horizons, or escape from their fears, or enhance their lives, the doors are closed. Then the first letter comes.

Rosemary and George have been married for fifty years. Now their time is running out. They have decided to set out on their last journey together, without ever leaving the bench at the bottom of their garden in Whitby. All they need is someone who shares their love of books.

Suddenly it's clear to Loveday that she and her team can do something useful in a crisis. They can recommend books to help with the situations their customers find themselves in: fear, boredom, loneliness, the desire for laughter and escape.

And so it begins.
______________

'A delightful and original concept about how a second hand bookshop can heal a community' Katie Fforde

'What a lovely book - so assured and gentle, full of compassion and replete with astute observations of human nature and behaviour' Carys Bray

'Beautifully written and atmospheric' Tracy Rees

(P) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2023 Stephanie Butland

Critic reviews

A delightful and original concept about how a second hand bookshop can heal a community

The perfect book to curl up with . . . It's heartwarming, emotional and full of kindness. A lovely and life-affirming novel

'What a lovely book - so assured and gentle, full of compassion and replete with astute observations of human nature and behaviour'

'Absolutely gorgeous . . . compelling, compassionate'

'Beautifully captures all the small kindnesses and frustrations of a community under lockdown . . . cathartic and life-affirming'

'What an absolute pleasure . . . a perfect follow-up to Lost for Words'

A really moving read - with great book recommendations included, too!

A pandemic book I wish I didn't buy

This is nothing like its prequel, which was written in first person Loveday's voice, and so enjoyable because of the character conveyed through that voice, and the story focused on a few characters. This is a very different book, third-person neutral voice, set in the pandemic, about a bunch of unrelated characters' lives that I get mixed up after a while, and they are just typical people in the pandemic. Nothing special. No character to love or cry for. Very boring.

I wish I bought this on credit so that I can return it, but I bought it with cash, so I'm stuck with it. Even then, I don't think I'll finish it.

I didn't realize this is a pandemic book, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. I'm sick of the pandemic, and as it is 2024 now, pandemic is in the past and I don't need any reminders of it. Plus, I don't share the depression these characters had during the pandemic. My pandemic time was fine and enjoyable.

1st book I've read about living through the pandemic

This is the 2nd book is a duology set in the Lost for Words Bookshop in York, England. The 1st book was set in 2016 and this one is set in 2020 and begins in the very first days of the Covid lock-down months. It is a delightfully written book full of both humor and pathos detailing how the shop adapted its day to day operations in order to survive the pandemic by filling "book prescriptions" based on what their customers said was ailing them - lonliness, lost love, their usual thrillers seeming inappropriate, etc. As a result, we readers also get a ton of book recommendations as a side benefit.

Lovejoy and her Mom continue to also help women in recovery from having been the victims of domestic violence. The interpersonal relationships of the book store employees come into play and Lovejoy passes on the comfort she received from the previous owner to a young girl who reminds her of herself.

52 Books 2024 Challenge
Prompt 15 - part of a duology

Loved it!

Wanted to keep listening long after my long commutes to and from work were done…

Covid relief but reading

Such a wonderful book. Will recommend to to others. The whole sh I had had a book pharmacy during COVID

Nostalgic multi stories .

Timeline, recent recent events were mentioned, those that happened merely four or five years ago, brought back memories of what was happening in my own life therefore, I really enjoyed the the episodes.