The Bookseller
By Cynthia Swanson
(Harper, Hardcover, 9780062333001, March 2015, 352pp.)
The Short of It:
Blurred lines between what’s real and what’s not keep you guessing in this story about a woman’s longing for a perfect life.
The Rest of It:
In 1962, Kitty Miller is a single woman who runs a bookstore with her best friend, Frieda. Although being a bookseller is very rewarding, the business is struggling with its current location, away from the excitement of the city. Additionally, her single status makes for a lonely life. With no romantic prospects in sight, Kitty seems to accept her future as an old maid and for the most part, is okay with it.
However, when she falls asleep at night, she visits an alternate world as Katharyn Andersson, who happens to be happily married with children of her own. Her husband Lars is the doting husband of her dreams and although she is fiercely proud of her children, she worries constantly about her one autistic son. In this world, she seems to be living the life that she’s always wanted. But as soon as she wakes, she is returned to the life she lives at Kitty.
Remember that movie Sliding Doors? In it, the character in essence, lives two different lives but at the same time. This is slightly different because the world that Kitty visits is just a bit into the future, 1963 to be exact. Although the device used to carry Kitty into her alternate world is pretty seamless, sleep, I grew tired of it halfway through, knowing that all she had to do to return was simply wake up. However, the author tosses in a nice little twist to keep things interesting so although the story was mostly predictable, not all of it was.
That said, what I felt was missing, was the tug of both worlds. In the movie Big, Tom Hanks finds it hard to return to his life as a boy because he’s found love in his adult life. I WEPT for him. I really did. Here, I was mildly sad for the character but that’s it. I think the author had all the right ideas, but I needed more emotion to tie it all together. I needed to see more conflict within the character herself and in that sense, she was a little thin.
Also, I bet a lot of readers will pick this one up based on the title and cover alone but very little of it has to do with book selling so keep that in mind if you decide to pick it up.
Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
Ooh, yes. I want to read this! Adding to my TBR list right now!
Very thoughtful review, Ti. I’ll probably give this one a pass. Thanks.
Well okay then, skipping this one!
Ti, I’m reading this one for the book tour and remember selecting it because of the sliding doors sounding summary. After reading your post, I’m already feeling slightly disappointed in it. I’ll let you know what I think of it once I finish it.
Yes, please tell me what you think once you are done with it. I think she could have gone deeper but you know me, I like deep 😉
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I have a copy of this one sitting on the shelf, but I’m too busy these days to fit it in…maybe after April.
It’s a super fast read. I don’t read quickly, at least I don’t think I do and I read it in an afternoon.
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I’ve been seeing things about this book lately. Intrigued by the Sliding Doors comparison, but probably won’t rush to read it. Maybe a listen?
Hadn’t thought about the movie Big in years. 🙂
It’s an interesting premise for a book. I wanted the author to go a little deeper with it but it was a quick read and does make you think about the choices we make in life.
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Just saw this book in BookPage was as intrigued by it’s premise. I may check it out from the library.
Oh yeah, I was attracted to this because of the title. It doesn’t sound like it’s as good as I thought it would be.
When you see that title you think it’s all based in a book store but that’s not the case at all. There are mentions of literature, of course but she really could have had any profession since it’s not really a big part of the story. Do you like alternate or parallel worlds? If so, you might like this one.
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Hmmmm…I have this and really should read it soon!
It’s a good premise. But I know what you mean about the tug of both worlds. It definitely should be strong, with a premise like this.