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The Bookshop

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 1,651 ratings · 289 reviews

In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop - the only bookshop - in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors' lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne....more

Paperback, 123 pages

Published September 15th 1997 by Mariner Books (first published 1978)

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Feb 26, 2009 bookczuk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-about-books, bookcrossing

There is a certain type of novel where the strength of the writing is not in the action, or the mystery or the excitement of the plot, but in the evocative nature of the words- the very plainness and chronicling of ordinary times for ordinary people. No tidy wind up of happy endings...

It reminds me of Elizabeth Goudge, who once. in describing herself said, "I am not a serious chronicler of the very terrible contemporary scene, but just a storyteller. There is so much tragedy about us everywhere...more

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Jan 24, 2012 TD rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

**Spoilers**

Toward the close of ‘The Bookshop’, when the community of Hardborough (a very hard borough indeed not to want a bookshop) have turned against Florence Green’s small business enterprise (although she was a bit green to imagine it would work in the first place), Florence’s young assistant, Christine Gipping, is prohibited from continuing in her after school, part-time position due to her poor eleven-plus test results and her thus having to attend the Technical rather than the more desi...more

**Spoilers**

Toward the close of ‘The Bookshop’, when the community of Hardborough (a very hard borough indeed not to want a bookshop) have turned against Florence Green’s small business enterprise (although she was a bit green to imagine it would work in the first place), Florence’s young assistant, Christine Gipping, is prohibited from continuing in her after school, part-time position due to her poor eleven-plus test results and her thus having to attend the Technical rather than the more desired Flintmarket Grammar School. Christine’s mother has no illusions what this result will mean for her ten year-old daughter’s future: “It’s what we call a death sentence…what chance will she ever have of meeting and marrying a white-collar chap? She won’t ever be able to look above a labouring chap or even an unemployed chap and believe me, Mrs. Green, she’ll be pegging out her own washing until the day she dies.” Florence tries to take “a brighter view” – Christine is, after-all, one of Penelope Fitzgerald’s wise children, such as the Bernhard was in ‘The Blue Flower’, and is very intelligent and musical – but even Florence has witnessed classism beginning to manifest among the town’s children along the lines of which institution they are attending – traditional lines of exclusion already becoming entrenched, and Christine appears to have the wrong kind of intelligence. Still, she possesses understanding beyond her slender years, but while Christine is herself aware of what her bad result means, her reaction is still that of a child’s: “Christine was implacable. She could only find relief in causing pain. Her resentment was directed against everyone who had to do with books, and reading, and made it a condition of success to write little compositions, and to know which picture was the odd one out. She hated them all.” And here, it seems, is a distillation of what motivates the Hardborough community’s exnominational arraying of themselves against Florence’s desire to open a bookshop in the Old House. Even the resident rapper, or ghost, with who Florence shares the Old House seems pitted against her. But Florence persists. She sees and is kept awake by the image of a heron trying to swallow an eel, the eel struggling free of the heron. Florence is, of course, both; having bitten off more than she can chew by opening a bookshop, she is also striving not to be swallowed by local passive resistance to her business – a resistance nevertheless leavened with curiosity. And she is also one of Fitzgerald’s characters to who the author feels affinity and compassion, a dreamer who can’t control her ledgers, requires a ten year-old to manage customers, but who “[has] a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation.” The thinly veiled stinginess undergirding disinterested pragmatism and recourse to litigation which characterises the Hardborough community makes short work of Florence and her bookshop – this spearheaded by the painfully (if a little one-dimensionally) bourgeois Violet Gamart, who orchestrates Florence’s ousting by pulling strings through her contacts in the council. Only the old-world patriarch and misanthrope, Edmund Brundish, who everybody holds in awe for his long Suffolk lineage and aristocratic ties – although they do not emulate his comportment - is Florence’s ally (beside the tipsy Mr. Raven, who enlists his Sea Scouts to help Florence knock together shelving for her stock). Mr. Brundish represents an older, almost eclipsed order and a more capacious world-view tolerant of the foibles of people like Florence, conscious that a certain kind of value is in need of space in which to bumble – a space denied by the pinching meanness of the likes of Mrs. Gamart, and our increasingly litigious society in general. Fitzgerald is blisteringly dismissive of the self-interest lurking beneath veneers of shrilly proclaimed imperative. But after a visit to upbraid Mrs. Gamart for her conduct, Mr. Brundish promptly drops dead (so much for the old order!), and in the conclusion to Fitzgerald’s tale (a tale superbly evocative of place, I would like to point out) Florence is left homeless and penniless and on a bus to London. The only two books she has salvaged contain an inscription from Milton: “A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” In Fitzgerald’s vision, it seems, we are becoming too occupied dressing self-interest up as essentialism to treasure anything beyond the scaffolding of existence.

Terribly important in Fitzgerald’s writing is her style. Please find some of my thoughts in the following reviews of her books “The Blue Flower” and “The Means of Escape”:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

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May 06, 2008 Eddie Watkins rated it 4 of 5 stars

I started to read this because I was in the mood for a cozy book about a quaint English village bookshop, but soon found out I was in for something else altogether. While there are those touches of quaint cozy English village life (of which I know nothing personally), it's mainly about the rancor and spite that rises to the surface of the village when the bookshop opens.

It's a small book, not overly ambitious, but it's also perfectly proportioned and written with a master's touch. There's a qui...more

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2009 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very bleak. True to life in that many things don't work out how you want them to, the evil sometimes prevail, and the good and courageous can be brought low. I prefer a more optimistic outlook, but the book gets points for keeping me interested in the characters and story. A quick read.

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Feb 17, 2013 Thais rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mi ha lasciata un po' perplessa. Credevo - speravo - che avrei trovato la storia di una donnina coraggiosa che apre la prima libreria di uno sperduto paesino in riva al mare spinta dall'amore per i libri e convinta della forza della lettura. Beh, se Florence lo era, io non me ne sono accorta. "La libreria" è in effetti l'avventura di una donna di mezza età che sfida l'ostilità e l'indifferenza dei suoi concittadini per aprire una libreria in una vecchia casa umida e disabitata, ma i libri non so...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Joe Toledo added it

Me enamoró la portada, tenía algo de tenue, de frágil. Y cuando leí la sinopsis pensé que su protagonista también. Qué malo es juzgar un libro por su portada.. Es un libro divertido diferente a lo que yo me esperaba.
Su autora nos transmite la paz que se respira en los pueblos pequeños y cómo les cuesta aceptar las novedades, incluso la mujer más poderosa del pueblo se opone. Tiene momentos divertidísimos, y otros incluso brillantes. Recuerdo que iba leyendo en un transporte público cuando llegué...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Shazza Maddog rated it 4 of 5 stars

Florence Green, a British widow living in a small town, decides to open a bookshop in her small town, much to the dismay of the unofficial leader of the town, Mrs. Gamart, who has had plans for Florence's Old House, which has been standing empty for five years. Because Florence actually dared to do well in the small town, the other shopkeeps become upset, as their own businesses are failing. Because Florence's shop does well, against Mrs. Gamart's plans, it upsets Mrs. Gamart. Only a few people...more

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May 05, 2012 Mmars rated it 3 of 5 stars

*********contains spoilers**********

I once read that an accomplished short story tells you everything you need to know in the first paragraph and the first two paragraphs of this novella do just that. The story is set up with a metaphor of a heron flying with an eel in its mouth (which will, of course eventually be devoured) and goes on to say that "She [Florence] had a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-perservation."

So, should I have seen the ending...more

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Jan 20, 2012 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary

A little story of an ordinary woman in 1959 England with a little money and she decides to open a bookstore in a little village which has none. With a great deal of innocence and no savvy, she overcomes a number of obstacles - a bank loan, buying a run-down house, no ties to the community - and opens her store.

It doesn't take long before a variety of village folk notice. The local Establishment (an aristocratic family) and nearby slacker businesses feel threatened by her store. Mrs. Gamart, who...more

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May 09, 2011 tinne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a wonderful experience to pick up a book, read it and forget the usual rhythm of the evening. No dinner, no phone or tv - just the book that ambles along in a quiet and still town in East Anglia.

The book was published in 1978 and is a reflection on the reactionary society of the village in 1959. Imagine reading it today, half a century later... Quite a unique perspective. A middle-aged woman starting up a bookshop in a quintessentially dull and tired old village was considered an eccentric...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Yvann S rated it 4 of 5 stars

Summary: Florence Green, whom life seems to have passed by, dares to open a bookshop in The Old House in a seaside village in East Anglia. She takes on the polite but ruthless local opposition, the disintegrating old house and the supernatural in her endeavour. However, 1959 is not a kind year to widows opening small businesses.

I read this for the Cornflower Book Group, who are discussing it on Saturday 22nd January.

First off, the writing is beautiful. Fitzgerald cultivates a small but clever c...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 13, 2011 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-village-life

I remember reading this book from some years back after my mother went to a literature festival in East Anglia, probably the annual one at Southwold, in Suffolk, on the cold North Sea. My main memory is the author's convincing depiction of a village that drove a bookstore out, when the conventional wisdom would be that every community, no matter how small, would love to have its own bookstore.

Looking up the Southwold Festival, I found a reference to George Orwell who wrote his second novel "The...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 11, 2010 Polomoche rated it 5 of 5 stars

Penelope Fitzgerald is a brilliant writer; in terms of prose this book holds up with all the classics. She is very funny too - if you enjoy that dry, subtle English sense of humor you will love this novel.

I found the theme of the novel to be so much more than the book jacket indicated. This was about the pending shift from the old power structure to the new. The protagonist is perfect because she is a middle-aged woman, seemingly harmless, but she has the courage and gumption to take on the esta...more

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Mar 08, 2010 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: british-literature, authors-ef

This is a small, but lovely book. I say "small" rather than "short" (though it is, at only about 120 pages) because like Austen, Fitzgerald works in miniature here. The plot is simple -- Florence Green starts a bookshop in a small English town, and Fitzgerald examines the repercussions of her decision and its effects on herself and the other inhabitants of the town.

For me, this turned out an interesting example of how reading tastes can change over the years. When I started it, I remembered bel...more

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May 15, 2009 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Bookshop tells the story of Florence Green, a widowed, middle-aged woman living in a seaside town in Sussex, England. Florence worked in a bookstore as a young woman (a time she remembers fondly) and decides that her small town could use a bookshop. She gets a loan and opens her store, but soon encounters resistance from several forces in town, including local VIP Violet Gamart.

I enjoyed the descriptions of life in this small town and the quirky characters that live there. I also enjoyed th...more

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Aug 24, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, unexpectedly-terrific

If you asked me to choose a writer particularly skilled at illustrating the latent nastiness that lurks in small provincial towns, my first choice would probably be a French author -- either Balzac or de Maupassant. The cruelties and resentments of village life are recurrent themes in their work -- a good illustration is one of de Maupassant's earliest and best-known stories, Boule de Suife , which paints a devastating picture of the meanness and nastiness that characterizes the behavior of the...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Piperitapitta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-uk, letteratura-uk, romanzo

Questi fantasmi.

Ecco, mi ha fatto pensare a questo, al mare d'inverno: bello ma triste, e malinconico.
E non mi aspettavo, dopo aver letto della stessa autrice la raccolta di racconti «Strategie di fuga», di incontrare la sottile ironia che pervade questo romanzo.
La penna di Penelope Fitzgerald è affilata, niente affatto pizzi e trine , sicuramente tendente più all'amaro che al dolce, e affonda le radici in una storia che a quanto sembra ha molto di autobiografico.
La stessa Fitzgerald, negli anni...more Questi fantasmi.

Ecco, mi ha fatto pensare a questo, al mare d'inverno: bello ma triste, e malinconico.
E non mi aspettavo, dopo aver letto della stessa autrice la raccolta di racconti «Strategie di fuga», di incontrare la sottile ironia che pervade questo romanzo.
La penna di Penelope Fitzgerald è affilata, niente affatto pizzi e trine , sicuramente tendente più all'amaro che al dolce, e affonda le radici in una storia che a quanto sembra ha molto di autobiografico.
La stessa Fitzgerald, negli anni Sessanta lavorò in una libreria a Southwold, nel Suffolk, e tutto lascia pensare che anche lei, come Florence Green, la vedova di mezza età protagonista del romanzo che nel 1959 sconvolge la sonnacchiosa cittadina di Hardborough con l'idea di aprire una libreria nei locali abbandonati dell'Old House, si sia dovuta scontrare con le piccole invidie degli abitanti di un paesino di mare chiuso in se stesso, irraggiungibile dall'esterno con i mezzi pubblici, e poco propenso a modificare ritmi di vita ormai consolidati dall'abitudine; un piccolo paese che si entusiasma all'apertura della libreria, si lascia sedurre dall'idea di una biblioteca circolante, decreta il successo di «Lolita» nel Suffolk, ma è poi subito pronto a rientrare nei ranghi e a ricordare che gli uomini si dividono «in sterminatori e sterminati, con i primi che predominano, in qualunque momento».
Il paesaggio, freddo ma limpido e luminoso dell'estate, al quale si contrappone quello umido e piovoso dell'inverno, la spiaggia con i suoi ciottoli multicolore capace di richiamare al primo pallido sole i suoi abitanti ancor prima dei villeggianti, ha fatto sì che quest'angolo di Inghilterra a me sconosciuto, l'East Anglia, diventasse immediatamente familiare e, a suo modo, rasserenante.
Sarebbe stato un piacere, credo, poterlo leggere in lingua originale, perché la sensazione è che la traduzione non riesca a rendere pienamente giustizia allo humor tendente al nero brillante della Fitzgerald, che non manca di inserire nella sua storia anche un elemento very british, i fantasmi, chiamati affettuosamente i picchi, che infestano senza troppa invadenza la libreria e la storia, ma che forse sono messi lì a simboleggiare i pregiudizi e a raccontarci che le chiusure mentali, spesso, sono causa di immobilità, ingiustizia e prepotenza.

description

«Una volta aveva visto un airone in volo sull'estuario tentare, restando in aria, di inghiottire un'anguilla che aveva catturato. L'anguilla a sua volta si dibatteva per svincolarsi dalla gola dell'airone e ne sbucava fuori un quarto, una metà, o ogni tanto tre quarti. L'indecisione manifestata da entrambe le creature era penosa. Avevano azzardato troppo. Florence sentiva che se non aveva dormito affatto - e spesso le persone dicono così quando non intendono dire niente del genere - a tenerla sveglia doveva essere stato il pensiero dell'airone.
Aveva un cuore tenero, anche se questo non è di grande aiuto quando si arriva alla questione dell'autoconservazione.»(less)

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May 29, 2012 Nix rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Nix by: Exeter book list

I felt that this book was a disappointment, on the whole. Florence was only sympathetic (as a character, I mean) in her slightly witty returns to the letters which tried to evict her from the Old House. The rest of the time she didn't really do much. She didn't even say why she wanted to open a bookshop. She doesn't particularly like to read, or it was never said that she did. She just wanted to open a bookshop just because? Doesn't make much sense to me. Also, she could have easily kept her pla...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Muitos amantes de livros como eu sonham um dia abrir uma livraria, mesmo sabendo que seja um sonho que não se torne realidade, até porque cada vez mais as pequenas livrarias não conseguem sobreviver, há sempre quem parta à aventura e lute contra todos para seguir o seu sonho.

Assim fez Florence Green corria o ano de 1959. Contra toda a população de uma pequena vila costeira de Hardborough a viúva decidiu comprar um espaço num edifício sem grandes condições e que se dizia estar assombrado.

Sem gran...more

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Jul 12, 2011 J. Luis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Siento decirlo pero el libro me ha defraudado un tanto, seguramente porque esperaba algo más, y las expectativas no han terminado de cumplirse.
De hecho aunque en ciertos momentos llegaba a parecer incluso enternecedora y se tomaba rápidamente simpatía por la protagonista la historia me ha parecido algo deslabazada. No he entendido el sentido que tenía el fantasma en toda la historia y ni siquiera he llegado ver el por qué de la irrupción de Lolita de Nabokov. No estoy demasiado de acuerdo con la...more

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Jul 27, 2009 BookScout rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, 2009, booker-prize

5 Stars for Craftsmanship, 3 Stars for Entertainment

At around 150 pages The Bookshop is a work that can be devoured in a single sitting, and is intended to be. The Bookshop is perfect in every way. It is a literary masterpiece where every action, scene, sentence and image exists for a reason and is swollen with significance like the swollen marshes of the fens that lace the novel.

From the first page we encounter the portent imagery of a heron and an eel fighting for their survival, a motif which...more 5 Stars for Craftsmanship, 3 Stars for Entertainment

At around 150 pages The Bookshop is a work that can be devoured in a single sitting, and is intended to be. The Bookshop is perfect in every way. It is a literary masterpiece where every action, scene, sentence and image exists for a reason and is swollen with significance like the swollen marshes of the fens that lace the novel.

From the first page we encounter the portent imagery of a heron and an eel fighting for their survival, a motif which occurs throughout the novel, encapsulating Florence Green’s fight with her community. As the story develops there are other significant motifs to ponder; the red dress for example or the behaviour of ‘the rapper’.

The plot is simply poised; our protagonist, middle-aged Florence Green decides to open a bookshop in her village and is shocked to discover that local opposition is about to make her venture more difficult than she predicted. This is a book about the spite and fear that exists in provincial communities but it is also a portrait of the individual versus bureaucracy.

Fitzgerald makes allusions to the rotting current of unfairness with simple narrative enhancements; the village is named Hardborough for example. There is damp in the old buildings signifying that rot is setting in.

The characters are drawn with dark humour. In any other setting and in under a lesser writer’s pen they could easily have become caricatures, but it is testament to Fitzgerald’s skill that many of them remain on the right side of revolting.

So as outlined earlier, this book is perfect so why only 4 stars? Without question The Bookshop deserves 5 stars for literary merit, economy of style and demonstrating insight into human nature, presented in beautiful, lyrical prose, but I just failed to find it entertaining as a novel. I am only too aware that this is a subjective point of view and a matter of individual taste. I wished I’d enjoyed it more, the book deserved it, but I would whole-heartedly recommend it anyone who appreciates style and form, especially within poetry or short stories to give it a go. You may engage with it on a whole new level. I can’t deny that this book is important, and has added something new to my appreciation of great writing. I think Penelope Fitzgerald summed it up best herself in The Bookshop:

“A good book is the precious life-blood of a masterspirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life, and as such it must surely be a necessary commodity.”
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Jun 08, 2009 Lynne-marie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book that is clearly greater than I could give it marks for my liking it. On the back cover it speaks of Balzac, who was an expert on how nasty people can be to one another in small country places, and that pretty well sums up the gist of the book. How can you like a book about that? I felt sorry for Florence Green, who was either an innocent or an imbecile, and failed to listen even when the town's resident house-bound royalty invited her to tea to wish her well, but to warn her of h...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am on a Fitzgerald kick to begin the New Year, having recently read "The Gate of Angels." Loneliness and failure seem to be emerging as themes (and The Bookshop has a sad ending), as well as the spunkiness of the English working-class (Daisy in Angels and Christine here--rapping Mrs. Gamart's knuckles for not waiting her turn.) I think she gets English village life right (I say this as an Englishman) with all the skulduggery and fake politeness. There are faint echoes of Jane Austen (Mrs. Gama...more I am on a Fitzgerald kick to begin the New Year, having recently read "The Gate of Angels." Loneliness and failure seem to be emerging as themes (and The Bookshop has a sad ending), as well as the spunkiness of the English working-class (Daisy in Angels and Christine here--rapping Mrs. Gamart's knuckles for not waiting her turn.) I think she gets English village life right (I say this as an Englishman) with all the skulduggery and fake politeness. There are faint echoes of Jane Austen (Mrs. Gamart's reflection's on Mr. Brundish's visit: "To be accepted by this tiresome old man would be an entry into a new dimension of time and space--the past centuries of inhabited Suffolk, and its present and watchful existence.")

Fitzgerald is the sort of writer who does a great deal with seemingly very little and she does a masterful job of characterization. Frank Kermode in his introduction to the Everyman's edition mentions "lazy, devious Milo, ambitious Mrs. Gamart, who has a nephew who is an M.P. 'a brilliant, successful and stupid young man,' and the primeval but central Mr. Brundish... The plot is neat as a watch." Then of course there is Florence Green, the woman who opens the bookshop, "In appearance small, wispy and wiry, somewhat insignificant from the front view, and totally so from the back." Florence does have significance, even though it all ends badly for her, and we do get to see her brand of ordinary courage.

Some of my favorite lines:
"Are you talking about culture?" the manager said, in a voice half-way between pity and respect.
"Culture is for amateurs. I can't run my shop at a loss. Shakespeare was a professional!" (pg. 8)

Mr.Brundish: "Let me tell you what I admire in human beings. I value most the one virtue which they share with gods and animals, and which need not therefore be referred to as a virtue. I refer to courage."

"I mustn't let myself worry," she said. "While there's life, there's hope."
"What a terrifying thought that is," muttered Mr. Brundish. (pg. 74)

Christine: "Oh, I shouldn't strain yourself. They say it's not good for you after you've turned forty." (pg. 94)

With Penelope Fitzgerald, I plan to read on.(less)

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May 06, 2012 Linda K K rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 27, 2012 Ivan rated it 2 of 5 stars

What an ugly little book this is. The town seems ugly, not at all picturesque (at least as described), and the people who live in it are even worse; small minded, uncultured, unfriendly and toady. Why would anyone want to live there, or choose to open a business there?

I’m afraid I didn’t much care for this bleak and uncompromisingly downbeat novel. I found I couldn’t even feel bad for the protagonist who seemed a rather silly sort who opens a book shop on a whim (not from a love of books).

*spo...more

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Sep 29, 2009 Laurele rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2009, audible

When I started this book I thought, "Oh, another nice Miss Read." When I finished just sat still for a while. She gave me the same feeling I had after reading Henry James's Washington Square. Oh, the cruelty! Fitzgerald is a new author to me. I'm going to start looking for her other books.

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Apr 11, 2009 Colleen rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 25, 2013 Airin rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't particularly love Jane Austen, but comparing this novel to her work (Like Byatt seems to do from what it says on the cover)is far from fair. The Bookshop has nothing to do with anything I've read from Austen (even if I only read her two most famous novels).

It is an ok novella, but I would have liked a bit more of everything, like character development (at least for Florence and Christine) and some further explanation/exploration on the lack of interest for reading and books.

Mrs Green go...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Ifigenia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comico

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ¿Alguien conoce la sensación de terminar un libro y sentirse completa y absolutamente decepcionado? Pues así me sentí yo con la librería, lo terminé, y fue cerrarlo y decir ¡¡menuda mierda!! Una tragicomedia, sí, pero la comedia estaba en los detalles más absurdos, que igual es mi sentido del humor porque a mí no me gustan ni me hacen reír películas de humor como scary movies o Benny Hill, por poner dos populares ejemplos.

La historia empezó mal, porque la primera risa la eché en la página 70 (y...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: england

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Penelope Fitzgerald

She was the daughter of Punch editor Edmund Knox (E.V. Knox) and the niece of theologian and crime writer Ronald Knox (Ronald A. Knox), cryptographer Dilly Knox and Bible scholar Wilfred Knox.

"When I was young," Fitzgerald later wrote, "I took my father and my three uncles for granted, and it never occurred to me that everyone else wasn't like them. Later on, I found that this was a mistake, but...more

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Trivia About The Bookshop

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Quotes from The Bookshop

“Morality is seldom a safe guide for human conduct.” — 4 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Bookshop
avg rating	preview: The Bookshop Goodreads rating: 3.36 (1651 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/319388.The_Bookshop?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1267596033l/319388.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/319388.The_Bookshop?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald[/url]

The Bookshop

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