What a wonderful way to start off this year's One Woman Book Club. This was a book written to be savored, which admittedly is a pretty big change of pace from my typical reading these days - books that can be devoured in big gulps, often in one or two sittings. This, however, is a seven-course meal meant to be enjoyed over an extended amount of time, which I absolutely did.

This is a full-length novel, well over 400 pages with the audiobook version lasting 12 hours. It is the story of three seemingly-unconnected people and a magical building that is honestly almost a character on its own. Despite the title of the book, there is not a ton of focus on an actual bookshop, although there is a lost manuscript and a lost person. Because there are three main characters, this story is told in triple point of view but only spans two timelines. There are heavy romance themes throughout but it's never the full focus.

To avoid spoilers, skip to the end of this post.

The main underlying plot line in this book is the story of Opaline, a Dublin book dealer during a time when women were still expected to get married, have babies, and run the household. When her mother and brother demand she marry a man she does not know let alone love, Opaline flees to Paris where she begins working for Shakespeare and Company, a renowned bookstore frequented by authors. While in Paris, Opaline meets and falls for a book dealer named Armand, but their romance is doomed to failure. When her brother unexpectedly shows up in Paris with her stilted fiance, Opaline, with the help of Armand, her boss, and the Irish author James Joyce, flees to Dublin where she stumbles into the position of shop owner. While there, she develops feelings for her married landlord, then falls back into bed with Armand and becomes pregnant. During this time, Opaline has been on the hunt for and discovered an unpublished manuscript written by Emily Bronte. Before she can celebrate the find of a lifetime, her brother shows up once again. This time, there's no one to save her, and Opaline's brother has her committed to an asylum. She gives birth while incarcerated, and the baby is taken from her, though Opaline is led to believe it was a stillbirth. She eventually manages to escape and returns to her shop where she meets and falls in love with a German POW. When the war ends, he must return to his home country, but eventually he makes his way back to Dublin. However, in the interim, Opaline decides that her brother must pay for all the evil that he's done and works with a newspaper to expose him. Before the article is published, she returns to her family home to confront him about his deeds. That confrontation reveals an awful truth: who Opaline believed was her brother is really her father. She also learns the truth about her baby, though she does not find her during her lifetime.

I must admit, Opaline's story was my favorite of the three, and I could have read a book just about her, but the other two characters, Martha and Henry, play an important part in Opaline's full story, and we mustn't forget the bookshop, which has a story all its own.

Let's start with the bookshop. It was originally a library located in another country. When the town had no further use for it, they decided to tear it down, but one man could not stand the thought of that happening, so he purchased it and relocated it to Dublin where he rebuilt it and turned it into a shop. The building possesses a magic of its own that is only revealed to those who believe it. The shop revealed itself to Opaline, then with her disappearance and eventual death, it concealed itself while waiting for the right person. That person was Martha.

Martha arrives in Dublin desperate to escape her abusive husband. When she sees an ad for a housekeeper, she figures she has nothing to lose. Upon meeting Madame Bowden, Martha's not sure if this will work out. Her new boss is eccentric to the extreme and very demanding, but beggars can't be choosers, and thankfully the gig comes with accommodations in the basement of the mansion. It's through her room's window that Martha meets Henry. Henry is in Dublin searching for Opaline's bookshop and in turn the Bronte manuscript. He just knows the shop should be where Madame Bowden's house now sits. He's even pretty sure he saw it once, though he won't admit it because it sounds ludicrous. Somehow, Henry convinces Martha to help him, but their relationship is on rocky footing. She's afraid, and he's not actually available.

Slowly, the bookshop begins to reveal itself to Martha, though she has no idea what's actually happening. When it presents her with a book, Martha reluctantly starts to read it. Soon, she's absorbed in the story and begins to piece the puzzle together. Her relationship with Henry seems to be getting firmer, but when Henry disappears unexpectedly with no explanation (his note was not delivered), she decides to cut him out of her life completely. Then her abusive husband finds her and tries to literally drag her home. Thankfully, Madame Bowden is there to intervene in such a way that Martha's husband will never bother anyone again.

Eventually, Henry returns to Dublin. He's tied up his loose ends, made some reconciliations with his family, and is ready to fully commit to Martha...except she won't see or talk to him. Good thing Madame Bowden is on his side and helps get the two back together. Henry explains his absence, Martha forgives him, and they discover the truth of the bookshop together.

This really was a lovely story, though I feel like the blurb did not actually prepare me for the truth of the story. It made it seem as though the bookshop transported the characters into some kind of alternate world, which is certainly not the case.

It is steeped in literary history. Opaline, and in turn Henry, are searching for an unpublished manuscript by Emily Bronte. It is widely believed that after writing Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte was working on a second manuscript that was never published before her death at a young age. Some scholars believe her sister, Charlotte, actually destroyed it. Regardless of what actually happened, a manuscript has never been found.

The bookstore that Opaline worked at in Paris - Shakespeare and Company - did exist. It was founded by Sylvia Beach, an American publisher, in 1919 and was in operation through 1941 when the Nazis occupied Paris. The store was a gathering place for authors, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scot Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. Beach actually published Joyce's controversial book, Ulysses, which was rejected by all other publishers for being obscene. Interestingly, in 1951 a store by the same name opened in another location in Paris, and it is still open today.