Rather Too Fond Of Books

I knew I was going to love The Little Bookshop on the Seine as soon as I read the blurb, it just sounded magical and exactly my type of book. I’ve always adored books about books and bookshops.

Sarah runs a little bookshop in Ashford, a small town where she has always lived, and where she knows everyone and everyone knows her. She gets offered the chance to do a six-month book shop swap with her dear friend Sophie, who runs the Once Upon a Time book shop in Paris and decides to go for it.

Sarah is a total romantic, she is whimsical and a daydreamer. She adores her books and she absolutely believes in happily ever afters. She’s always wanted to go to Paris and immediately dreams about exploring the city hand-in-hand with her man, Ridge, but it doesn’t quite go as she imagines it would. She finds she has to hit the ground running when she arrives in Paris. Once Upon a Time is a very busy shop with staff that seem to come and go at will, and who offer no support to Sarah. She quickly becomes exhausted and stressed and begins to question whether she has made the right decision in coming to Paris.

Then she meets Oceane, who also works at Once Upon a Time part-time, and she takes Sarah under her wing. She helps her shop for new clothes to update her look, she encourages her to take time away from the shop and helps her to explore the real Paris and not just the tourist side of the city. Oceane introduces Sarah to Anouk, who runs an antique jewellery shop, and I loved meeting her. She is just so quirky; the idea that she picks pieces out for customers and will only sell them what she feels is right for them! Just wonderful!

I assumed this novel was going to be focused on the romance between Sarah and Ridge but actually that isn’t really the main focus at all. Their relationship doesn’t quite go as Sarah hoped while she is in Paris and the romance of the book is actually very much more between Sarah and Paris itself. She falls head over heels in love with the city as it begins to cast its magical spell on her. Sarah goes from being quite naive and gauche to slowly, with Oceane’s help, beginning to find her sense of style and to dress with a more chic Parisian look. She gradually becomes more comfortable with the language and it’s wonderful to see her confidence grow. Sarah really does find herself in Paris, she becomes bolder and stronger and it’s wonderful to see. I loved that she never stops being herself though: she doesn’t change into a different person entirely, you still see all her nervous tics but she becomes the best version of herself. It was great how the focus wasn’t what I expected, it added another dimension to the novel.

I adore the way Sarah feels about her books; her ‘book babies’ as she refers to them. The sound of a spine cracking, the way old books smell, the ‘lemony-scent’ of new books. I swear I could hear and see and smell everything that Sarah was experiencing in the book shop, the descriptions were that vivid. The sheer love of books just radiates off the page in this novel. Sarah’s face actually flushes with love at one point, like someone in the beginning of a new love affair, when she explores Once Upon a Time! I think all of us bookworms have been there on discovering a fantastic new book shop! I want to go visit Once Upon a Time, I want to sit and read in all the little rooms, I want to buy books there. This novel is a love letter to Paris, and even more so a love letter to books; it is absolutely a must-read book for book lovers.

I rated this book 10 out of 10, I absolutely loved it!

This review was originally posted on my blog: RatherTooFondofBooks