The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted

Hillman, Robert. The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted. New York: Putnam 2018. Print

First Sentences:

She didn't stay long as far as marriages go, just a year and ten months. Her note was brief, too:

       I'm leaving. Don't know what to say.    

                Love, Trudy. 

Description:

Here's an extremely well-written novel centering around a bookstore but has very little to do with books or the store itself. I just picked up Robert Hillman's The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted thinking I would be reading about the goings-on in a small shop with quirky characters, descriptions of books, and the evolution of like among readers.

But I was wrong ... and it turned out so much better for me.

Here we meet Tom Hope, recently-abandoned husband who farms in rural Australia, and Hannah, newly-arrived from Hungary who hires Tom to set up bookshelves in her new shop, the first bookshop ever in this sleepy town. No problem that Tom hasn't read a book in years. He and Hannah strike up a friendship as he works to make her bookshop habitable.

So many books. It was like looking at the blocks of the pyramids sitting on the sand on a daunting day one of construction.

But there is something about Hannah that is mysterious. Although she won't talk about her past, we eventually learn she is a Holocaust survivor who lost her family. Both she and Tom have broken hearts that slowly are somewhat eased through their friendship. But then Tom's wife returns, pregnant by another man. She throws everyone's life into uncertainty when after the birth of the baby she leaves again to join a religious cult, leaving Tom to raise the newborn baby Peter.

Will Trudy return ever? Will Tom and Hannah be able to console and mend together? And what about the boy Peter, torn between his mother and father?

Maybe this sounds like just another weepy romance novel, but au contraire. It is a lovely story, truly a high-quality read in all the important ways: writing, plot, character, and setting, with a very satisfying ending. Suffice to say the book is full of heartache, strength, thoughtfulness, unexpected passion, joy, and in the end even some satisfaction for characters and readers alike. 

I've been recommending this book to many people recently, so hope others will pick it up for a try. You won't be disappointed, and probably will find yourself fully engrossed in the lives of these gentle, sympathetic characters trying to deal with real sadness and get on with their lives in rural Australia.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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