Book: The Lost and Found Bookshop
Author: Susan Wiggs
Pages: 384
Read on: Kindle
Read in: 4 hours
Plot Summary: Somewhere in the vast Library of the Universe, as Natalie thought of it, there was a book that embodied exactly the things she was worrying about.
In the wake of a shocking tragedy, Natalie Harper inherits her mother’s charming but financially strapped bookshop in San Francisco. She also becomes caretaker for her ailing grandfather Andrew, her only living relative—not counting her scoundrel father.
But the gruff, deeply kind Andrew has begun displaying signs of decline. Natalie thinks it’s best to move him to an assisted living facility to ensure the care he needs. To pay for it, she plans to close the bookstore and sell the derelict but valuable building on historic Perdita Street, which is in need of constant fixing. There’s only one problem–Grandpa Andrew owns the building and refuses to sell. Natalie adores her grandfather; she’ll do whatever it takes to make his final years happy. Besides, she loves the store and its books provide welcome solace for her overwhelming grief.
After she moves into the small studio apartment above the shop, Natalie carries out her grandfather’s request and hires contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary and ongoing repairs. His young daughter, Dorothy, also becomes a regular at the store, and she and Natalie begin reading together while Peach works.
To Natalie’s surprise, her sorrow begins to dissipate as her life becomes an unexpected journey of new connections, discoveries and revelations, from unearthing artifacts hidden in the bookshop’s walls, to discovering the truth about her family, her future, and her own heart.
Things I Liked:
1. A book set in and about a bookshop! Hello? Do you know me at all?! This book had me at hello! I love books about books and bookshops because that is a bookworm's natural habitat, even if I have not been to a bookstore in 6 months! Sigh! This pandemic is taking away all the joy from our lives and that is exactly why we need to read books like The Lost and Found Bookshop to remind us that there are book stores and books and kindness and love in the world!
2. The story is beautiful! This is a story about love, grief, overcoming tragedy, finding one's life's purpose and about the past- the treasures and secrets it holds. Natalie is devastated when her mum, her solo parent, dies suddenly in a freak plane crash. Natalie has a stable, high income but soul-crushing job at a vinery, but once her mom dies, she has to make changes to her life in order to look after her Grandpa- Andrew. Natalie grew up in the apartment above her mom's bookshop. She loved the shop, but the time, effort and struggles to keep it solvent and going were too much for her, which is why she chose a job that was stable. However, now, she has to make a go of running the shop and each day brings with it new challenges- the shop is in debt, the building itself is crumbling and her beloved Grandy is showing signs of dementia.
The author beautifully brings out the struggles in Natalie's life back at the bookshop and how she deals with all of them.
3. The book has lovely characters- Natalie, her Grandy Andrew, her two bookshop employees- Bertie and Chloe, Peach Gallaghar- the handyman, who her mother had hired before her death. All of them are just such lovely characters.
4. The book also brings alive the story of Andrew's grandmother- Colleen- an Irish immigrant living and working in San Francisco in the early 1900s. I really loved the 'historical' bits of this book.
5. This book is such a timely read now, when a lot of us are feeling hopeless and bogged down. This story and its characters are like a hug! Read it!
Rating: 5/5
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