Supriya's Banter
The Lost Bookshop
Author: Evie Woods
Publisher: One More Chapter Crime & Thrlr (7 November 2023); HarperCollins Publishers
Language: English
Paperback: 434 pages
The opening page of the book was enough to get me going. It’s set in a bookshop cum toy store that seems magical and otherworldly from the get-go.
Woods uses secrets, intrigue, and emotional build to string you along. She falters but picks up the pace again, leading up to a satisfying end and a smile on your face.
At first glance, you assume The Lost Bookshop is a hidden place filled with rare tomes, but as you turn the pages, you discover it is also about the people who walk into such spaces, coming in to find a book but end up discovering themselves.
Woods weaves together three timelines—a major task, given the characters, their varied backstories, and their emotional baggage. Opaline is from the 1920s, finding her self-worth in Paris and Dublin, while Martha and Henry are from present-day Dublin.
A fiery 1920s escapee, Opaline, runs away from an arranged marriage in London and lands in Paris, working at Shakespeare & Company alongside real-life legends Joyce and Hemingway. She eventually ends up in Dublin, running her own shop—a haven for rare books and prized ancient manuscripts. Henry, a bookish researcher, and Martha, a woman escaping the bruises of a broken past, form a strange bond that loops back to Opaline via the enigmatic bookshop. Madame Bowden. Martha’s employer is introduced as a former actress with a sharp tongue and strict temperament. But as the book advances, the strokes with which she is depicted change, and her eccentric insight gently nudges the magical realism that defines the story.
What sets this book apart is its gentle magic — no flying broomsticks, just the alchemy of words and second chances. The humour is sly and warm. Characters are flawed and endearing. The setting is magical—the dusty, book-lined corners of Dublin, the smell of old paper, the creak of attic floors—feels so real that you yearn to visit it.
The layers of time, the Irish atmosphere, the characters scarred and healing—all add up to more than a novel.
Just right for bibliophiles and fans of historical fiction. The low-key mystery, wrapped in oodles of warmth, may appeal to fans of cosy mysteries.
The book, once again, reminds you of the quiet yet resilient power of books.
