A Novel Bookstore

July 5, 2010
The founding of a unique Paris bookstore triggers jealousies and threats in Cossé's intriguing follow-up to The Corner of the Veil (1999). Former comic-book seller Ivan "Van" Georg and stylish Francesca Aldo-Valbelli team to establish the Good Novel, a bookshop that will stock only masterpieces in fiction, which are selected by a secret committee of writers. At first, the warm welcome of the bookstore results in soaring sales. Then attacks in the press, the opening of rival bookstores, and attempts against the lives of committee members by persons unknown sour the atmosphere for the Good Novel's community of readers and writers. Cossé poignantly depicts characters who have turned to literature for solace against the pain in their lives, creates ongoing speculation as to the shadowy first-person narrator, and furnishes sly commentary about gatekeeping in the literary world. Though purists may be disappointed with the solution to the mystery, there's plenty of food for thought.

July 15, 2010

When French author Cossé (A Corner of the Veil, 1999, etc.) pairs unlikely business partners in the opening of a unique Parisian bookstore, The Good Novel, that will sell only the best fiction, their venture succeeds and draws vehement criticism—and worse.

The selection process at The Good Novel, owned and backed by the lovely Aldo-Valbella Francesca and run by Ivan Georg, is rigorous. Members of a secret committee of writers and bibliophiles compile novels that they consider superior to the usual bestseller-list folderol. Their bookstore is a success. But almost immediately detractors publish diatribes accusing The Good Novel's proprietors and denizens of snobbery. Worse, someone is pasting these attacks up around town. When attempts are made against the lives of several members of the selection committee, Ivan and Francesca turn to the law in the person of a publishing-industry veteran turned cop, Gonzague Heffner, to determine how it is that seemingly coordinated thugs have learned the meticulously concealed identities of committee members. Is there a centralized plot by publishing interests to overthrow the upstart store, or are these the isolated jabs of irate inferior writers who take issue with the store's exclusive policies? As the investigation unfolds, rival bookstores open, initially strong sales falter, and it becomes clear that the attacks are a reaction to the very concept of quality in literature. This mystery is however incidental to larger themes of what superlative work in the literary sphere constitutes. Not without its surprises, the book doesn't quite live up to the high literary standards that its characters apply. While the central mystery stalls and dissipates without satisfactory resolution, the central conceit—what place is there for great and often difficult literature in a mercenary world—is manifest in the plight of the store and the disruptive influence it has on critics and booksellers the world over. The book's real strength is its romances—of both the bookish and human varieties. In attention to matters of the heart the story is redeemed, delivering a touché where its original thrust misses the mark.  

A literary idyll preselected for bookworms and bibliophiles.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2010

Heiress Francesca and bookseller Ivan don't expect to make a profit when they open a bookstore in Paris that sells nothing but the best fiction. The store's unexpected success produces a powerful backlash: an outcry from pundits, negative ad campaigns, targeted competition, and threats that escalate to physical violence. When members of the store's secret inventory selection committee are attacked, barely escaping with their lives, it becomes imperative for the owners to find out who is behind the intimidation. With this work, French novelist Cosse (A Corner of the Veil) gives readers a truly literary thriller. Eminently readable, it is a love letter to the novel (literature junkies will find within its pages a seemingly endless supply of book suggestions) and a profound exploration of human nature. VERDICT If the success of Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog, also translated by Andersen, is any indication, this work will be in high demand.--Karen Walton Morse, Univ. at Buffalo Libs.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2010
Ivan and Francescas idea of bliss is a bookshop selling only the finest literature: time-honored treasures as well as overlooked masterpieces, little gems, and innovative new publications. Their dream becomes reality when they open their own shop, The Good Novel, in a fine but unpretentious Paris arrondissement. Their inventory is comprised of recommendations from eight respected authors, an anonymous committee who submit lists of their 600 favorite books. With quiet fanfare, the store opens and immediately achieves great success. Notice is then taken by the mainstream press: Who are these elitists, and how dare they tell everyone what to read? Mayhem ensues. The blogosphere erupts; the Internet roils. Erstwhile competitors spring up overnight, pandering to pedestrian tastes and trumpeting their pseudoegalitarian ideals. Ivan and Francesca stoically try to take it in stride until three of their nominating committee members fall victim to near-fatal accidents. Enveloping this diabolical mystery in a delicate love story, Coss' crafts a luscious paean to bibliophilia, gracefully translated from the French by Anderson. Wry, sly, and coyly seditious, Coss's piquant satire is a subtly wrought manifesto against blatant consumer manipulation and media malfeasance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)