The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as were two of her other novels: The Beginning of Spring, and The Gates of Angels. She won the Booker in 1979 for Offshore. One of the best English novelists of her time, her rich resources of odd people were often inspired by her life; she once ran a bookshop in Southwold, Suffolk.
In 1959, the lonely Suffolk town of Hardborough lacked a launderette, fish and chip shop, a cinema, and even proper access since the swing bridge fell in and the seawall washed out in 1953. Florence Green however, recalling her youth clerking at a bookstore, decides she will open one. Warned off renting the Old House by the bank and those who believe it haunted (it is), she cleans it up and brings in stock. Eleven year-old Christine comes in after school to help out with orders and decisions, like whether to stock Lolita. There is Mrs. Gamart to deal with - who would have liked the Old House for an arts centre and has blocked Florence every step. Now she is stepping past her as she passively turns the town against Florence. It seems this is not a town that really wants a bookshop.
This has a great sense of place, a lighthearted charm that invites you in. Florence has a simple dream to run a bookshop (even though she has no head for numbers or ordering books) and it's easy to be on her side. This is essentially a portrait of small town, and the hierarchy of perceived power, the classes, the rules, those who know what has always been done and what is not. This is the pettiness that can shape lives and sometimes shut you down. Insightfully written, but as much as I enjoyed the story and Florence as a character, I resented the direction the story was heading. That speaks to the power of the author who brought the town and characters to life, and so, is not Fitzgerald's fault - it is definitely Mrs. Gamart's.
A recommended slice of English country life.
This was filmed starring Emily Mortimer in 2017, in which they changed the dynamic and the relationships of the characters so much as to be unwatchable and cringe-worthy.
Why film the story if you are going to alter the essence of the story? Absolutely avoid.
1978 / Tradeback / 156 pages
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