The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane
Series: Rosemary Lane, Book 1
By: Ellen Berry / Narrated By: Gabrielle Glaister
Length: 12 hrs
More about a crumbling life than a cozy bookshop
Don’t get me wrong! I actually like The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane quite a bit. It’s just that I thought it’d be more about a cozy bookshop, its customers, Della as the owner of this special little place in Burley Bridge, the neighbors, things of that ilk.
But mostly it was about things in Della’s life going terribly wrong. Her daughter is growing up and growing away from her. Her husband is golfing alllll the time and just doesn’t seem to give much of a rat’s patoot about spending time at home, or with her. Plus, her mom just died. Plus there’s a secret she stumbles upon which changes her entire sense of herself. Plus, her brother and his wife is kinda a turd. Plus, her sister is a tad distant.
Here’s what goes on. Della’s mom dies, and all Della wants from the house are the gazillion and six cookbooks her mom, Kitty, used to purchase and collect. Then she gets the idea to lease the newly vacated store of a haberdashery to set up a bookstore, one that sells cookbooks and only cookbooks. But it’s less a bright idea than a way to strike back at her husband’s remoteness and lack of caring. It’s kinda even a way to fill the void that her daughter’s going off the university will leave in her life.
There’s a small parallel story with another person, a gentleman on his own raising his own two kids that is developed throughout the book that’s rather sweet. There’s DEFINITELY the story of Della’s husband and his choices going on. There’s her daughter blossoming as a young woman and an artist. And there’s that secret I mentioned.
But there’s only the barest hint of story about the bookshop, and it doesn’t even open until the very end. Still, I enjoyed the way Della’s character was developed and how she made her decisions, those decisions, their ramifications. Gabrielle Glaister’s narration was good—I got the sense of an older woman, tired with life and the way it’s going, trying desperately to keep things juggling in the air, all while trying to find a dynamic new way of life. Glaister handles male voices well also; she handles the young as well as the old, the eccentric as well as the staid.
There’s a sequel, and I believe it’s Della’s sister’s story. I must say, I’m very much looking forward to listening to that one. Especially as there’s a different narrator. Believe me, it’s not that I had a problem with Gabrielle’s performance, but I’m excited that there’ll be a different voice for a uniquely different character (usually, I dunno if it’s Publishers’ choice or what, but one narrator will do an author’s entire body of work).
Only 12 hours that went by quickly when all is said and done. Just don’t expect much on a bookshop.
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