“The Lost Bookshop” by Evie Woods is a story that has elements of romance, historical fiction, mystery and magical realism.
The story revolves around three central characters - Opaline, Martha and Henry. Opaline, a woman from the 1920s who flees home to escape a forced marriage and a domineering older brother finally ends up as the owner of an antiques and books shop in Dublin. Martha, a woman from the present who escapes from an abusive marriage lives as a servant to a wealthy lady with a constant fear of her husband finding her. Henry, a researcher with a traumatic childhood is in pursuit of a rumoured manuscript of Emily Brontë’s second novel.
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| Evie Woods |
The non-linear narrative of the novel travels around these three characters in two different timelines. The journey of these three characters to overcome their distressing past to a better future with surprising yet welcoming turn of events forms the storyline.
The lives of these three are seamlessly interwoven in this magical tale of love, betrayal, hope, self-realisation and destiny. The novel brings in historical references to books, bookshops, authors and their personal lives and combines this reality with otherworldly elements to build a compelling tale of magical realism. Except being slow paced at some places, this is a feel-good novel which is engaging for the most part.
