How to Find Love in a Book Shop

Author/Guide: Veronica Henry

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: How to find love in a bookshop? Step inside the magical Nightingale Books and see for yourself…

ISBN: 978-1409146889
Genre: Fiction, Romance

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What you need to know before your trail

Nightingale Books is packed full to the brim with novels of every kind, but it might just be that the most interesting story of all is the story of the bookshop itself.

Owner Emilia Nightingale is sadly struggling to keep the shop open due to dwindling sales and other problems in her life. But she can’t bear to sell as her father’s dying wish was for her to hold the fort.

The customers are also important to her and they all seem to have secrets of their own which they come into the bookshop to mull over, or talk about or get a book to help them escape.

Nightingale Books has more than book on its shelves, it has a wealth of comfort, of forgotten dreams and lost love. Of unexpected life changes and so much more.

It’s a mecca for all kinds of society in Peasebrook and since the bookshop is full of wisdom, kindness and all manner of stories and advice, it’s a haven for so many reasons.

Won’t you enter and see for yourself?

Locations

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Travel Guide

The Cotswolds

Peasebrook in the Cotswolds just sounds idyllic and it’s so upsetting to find out that this is not real. But Nightingale books is simply representative of every bookshop you’ve ever been in:

There’s shelves and shelves of books. A man who owned it who might not have read every book despite trying to, but he would know which book would suit which person and ensured they found each other.

This bookshop is magical and draws people in from all walks of life in and around the Cotswolds. It’s a meeting place, a place to chat, a place to browse and forget life for a while and there’s always the chance you’ll get talking to a nice stranger and bond over fiction.

A jewel of a shop – although “A diamond scintillated for a second: a book could scintillate for ever.”

This book evokes what it means to have a local bookshop – to browse its shelves, talk to the booksellers, smell the books. If you have ever wondered about the true value of a bookshop then this book brings it home. Life is like a bookshop:

‘The whole point of life was you couldn’t ever be sure what would happen next. Sometimes what happened was good, sometimes not, but there were always surprises.’

Streetview Maps

A) Chippen Camden bookshop

C) Hay on Wye Booksellers

Booktrailer Review

Susan: @thebooktrailer

If there is a book which is an homage, an ode to bookshops up and down the land, then this is it.

From the moment I opened the cover and heard the little tinkle of the bell. I was utterly enraptured by the charm this bookshop and the world of books had on me. Oh Julius! The man who owned the bookshop was just lovely and I only wish I had been in Nightingale books and bought all of the books he had.

This story was a really enchanting read as it was much more than I was expecting. I did have in my mind a simple but charming love story about finding love amongst the shelves, but this is series of interweaving stories which merge into a lovely fireside read. Some bits are sad, many serious but there is just such heartwarming moments that you just want to hug the book and look up to the sky and smile at Julius.

I particularly loved the way the author has merged so many things that book lovers learn into one novel. It’s not just the shop but the stories of the people who come into this shop, the books they read,the wise words such as “A diamond scintillated for a second: a book could scintillate for ever.” Turns out books are actually a girl’s best friends.

Oh and the sections such as Julius’ ‘ Ten cult classics or Emilia’s literary heroines! And then there’s my personal favourite of June’s ten novels set in Ireland! Oh what joy I had reading all of these. Lists as well as a story! I just love Veronica Henry. She understands us bookworms

A lovely lovely novel that just makes you smile. And want to live in Nightingale Books for ever.