Clever girls sometimes make poor love choices. That’s the theme of English author Deborah Meyler’s debut novel, The Bookstore. This is the story of Esme Garland, an English student who won a scholarship to study art in New York City, and soon afterwards found herself coping with an unplanned pregnancy and a far from satisfactory relationship with the father of her child. Esme managed to land a job in a quirky bookstore staffed by a cast of quirky individuals each of whom would play a more or less significant role as her pregnancy progressed. Esme proves that smart girls aren’t always smart about love. The Bookstore is a well-written easy read where character is more important than plot.
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler is published by Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781448213764. [Disclosure: an ARC was provided free of charge by netgalley.com]