The Bookstore

Starred review from August 1, 2013
Between studying art history at Columbia University on a prestigious scholarship and a two-week fling with a magnetic, wealthy man, 23-year-old Esme Garland from England is happily settling into life in Manhattan when she discovers she's pregnant. Mitchell van Leuven, the father of her child, is enchanted by Esme but not in love, and he dumps her as she is on the brink of telling him about the child. The scholarship fund won't support two, so Esme takes a job in a secondhand bookstore on Broadway, a gathering place for the eccentric, who watch over her through her pregnancy. Then Mitchell reappears, and once again she is seduced by his worldly charms. This character-driven novel is about a woman trying to fit in and discovering her own path. It's about the man who sweeps Esme into his orbit against her better judgment and who is battling his own demons. It's about the quirky booksellers who adopt Esme as part of the family, including Luke, a guitar-playing loner whose blunt honesty serves as her annoyance and salvation. Above all, it's about the love of books. A deeply satisfying novel you will keep close to your heart, written in a style by turns witty and poetic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)