The Lost and Found Bookshop

 

The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

Bella Vista Chronicles #3

Fiction

2020 William Morrow

Finished on July 27, 2023

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

There is a book for everything . . . 

Somewhere in the vast Library of the Universe, as Natalie thought of it, there was a book that embodied exactly the things she was worrying about.

In the wake of a shocking tragedy, Natalie Harper inherits her mother’s charming but financially strapped bookshop in San Francisco. She also becomes caretaker for her ailing grandfather Andrew, her only living relative—not counting her scoundrel father. 

But the gruff, deeply kind Andrew has begun displaying signs of decline. Natalie thinks it’s best to move him to an assisted living facility to ensure the care he needs. To pay for it, she plans to close the bookstore and sell the derelict but valuable building on historic Perdita Street, which is in need of constant fixing. There’s only one problem–Grandpa Andrew owns the building and refuses to sell. Natalie adores her grandfather; she’ll do whatever it takes to make his final years happy. Besides, she loves the store and its books provide welcome solace for her overwhelming grief.

After she moves into the small studio apartment above the shop, Natalie carries out her grandfather’s request and hires contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary and ongoing repairs. His young daughter, Dorothy, also becomes a regular at the store, and she and Natalie begin reading together while Peach works.

To Natalie’s surprise, her sorrow begins to dissipate as her life becomes an unexpected journey of new connections, discoveries and revelations, from unearthing artifacts hidden in the bookshop’s walls, to discovering the truth about her family, her future, and her own heart.

Books about books (or bookstores) are always a big draw for me. The Lost and Found Bookshop is part contemporary fiction and part romance, the latter of which I rarely ever read, but this one caught my eye. I didn't think I had read anything by Susan Wiggs, but glancing at her title list, I remembered that I had read one (Table for Five) many years ago. Like Table for Five, Wiggs' more recent novel is predictable with familiar romantic tropes (single parent; love triangle; grieving lover) although there are some surprises sprinkled in here and there. Who doesn't enjoy literary references that have you adding more titles to your TBR list? Throw in the bookstore setting and it's a perfect brain-candy choice for a hectic summer. My only complaint is that the end of the story felt rushed, with a couple of jarring inconsistencies to Natalie's character, but overall, a decent read for the genre.