Romance | Book Chatter

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
By Gabrielle Zevin
Algonquin Books, 9781616204518, December 2014, 288pp.

The Short of It:

A sweet, feel-good story that includes lots of literary references for your bookish self.

The Rest of It:

It took forever for me to pick this one up and to be honest, had my book group not selected it, I probably would not have gotten to it. I thought it was a story about a grumpy old man.

Well, he’s kind of grumpy but not old and it reminded me a lot of the movie Baby Boom but with the roles reversed. A.J. Fikry owns an island bookstore but it’s not doing well and he doesn’t really do much to help that. His salty personality keeps people at bay, even though he is a long-time island resident and pretty well-known by the locals. But… his wife passed away not too long ago so his less-than-lovely personality is understandable.

Things change quickly when a young mother decides to leave her baby in his shop with only a letter asking that she be taken care of. After calling the appropriate authorities and discussing what will happen to the child, A.J. decides to foster her and then adopt her. This presents challenges for him but in the end, changes him forever.

As a book lover, it’s hard not to enjoy the literary references. The story is at times a little sappy and yes, there’s a little bit of romance tossed in but it’s one of those books that you just read and enjoy and that’s it. I loved the characters and setting. As a book club book, there was hardly anything to discuss but I could see it being made into a movie and having it star Tom Hanks or somebody like him.

Overall, enjoyable.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Where My Heart Used to Beat
By Sebastian Faulks
Henry Holt & Company, Hardcover, 9780805097320, January 26, 2016, 352pp.

The Short of It:

A well-told story about love and loss.

The Rest of It:

Description from Indiebound:

London, 1980. Robert Hendricks, an established psychiatrist and author, has so bottled up memories of his own wartime past that he is nearly sunk into a life of aloneness and depression. Out of the blue, a baffling letter arrives from one Dr. Alexander Pereira, a neurologist and a World War I veteran who claims to be an admirer of Robert’s published work. The letter brings Robert to the older man’s home on a rocky, secluded island off the south of France, and into tempests of memories–his childhood as a fatherless English boy, the carnage he witnessed and the wound he can’t remember receiving as a young officer in World War II, and, above all, the great, devastating love of his life, an Italian woman, “L,” whom he met during the war. As Robert’s recollections pour forth, he’s unsure whether they will lead to psychosis–or redemption. But Dr. Pereira knows.

I really enjoyed this novel and I am not a fan of “war” stories so that should tell you something. This story is delicately told and hints at darkness but there are plenty of moments where the light shines through.

Hendricks is a lonely man. He seeks the company of women many times in this novel, mostly of the paid variety, but when he meets Luisa he knows he’s met the love of his life. However, all is not perfect and she has her own story to tell.

When Hendricks agrees to meet with Dr. Pereira to discuss the possibility of working for him, he finds himself revisiting his past where he’s forced to deal with the death of his father and the events that have shaped him thus far. All of which have everything to do with his current relationships.

This was a good read for me. Good storytelling, liked the setting, and although parts of the story were tragic, it never seemed heavy to me. I enjoyed it.

Source:Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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