"The Lost Bookshop" by Evie Woods is a Blend of Historical and Romance Fiction with a Sprinkle of Magical Realism on top!

In 1921:
Opaline flees England before her treacherous and much older brother forces her into an arranged marriage. She finds employment in a Paris bookshop called "Shakespeare and Company". The love of books she shared with her deceased father is a passion that will sustain Opaline through her tumultuous future...

In present day:
Martha, a young Irish wife, manages to escape her abusive husband and secure employment in Dublin as a live-in housekeeper. Her employer, Madame Bowden is a bit unusual but it's a job and a safe place to live. Martha has never felt a connection to books but they seem to keep appearing in her basement apartment...

Henry, a Ph.D. student, is searching for a lost manuscript. His search brings him to Dublin to locate a bookshop that he sees at first, but when he turns around, it's no longer there. The location of the mysterious bookshop is right next door to where Martha is currently working and living at #12 Ha’Penny Lane...

"The Lost Bookshop" is a well-written story with three fully-developed main characters and diverse secondary characters. Madame Bowden is by far my favorite character, she adds so much magic to this story. The multiple timelines, meaningful topics, touches of romance, and lots and lots of nods to books makes this a solid read.

I was fortunate to have both a DRC and an ALC of "The Lost Bookshop". The digital copy was great for bedtime reading but this was mostly daytime listening for me and my busy day. The narration was excellent and the voicing skills of all three narrators were equally satisfying. The audiobook is my preferred format for this read.

I enjoy how the author ties this story together at the end with a surprises or two. My one quibble was that I wanted more Magical Realism. What was there was terrific, it just wasn't nearly enough. I'll take more, pretty please.

"The Lost Bookshop" was a fun read that I'm thrilled I squeezed in at the last minute and I recommend it to readers who enjoy a blend of Historical and Romance Fiction with a little Magical Realism sprinkled on top.

4⭐

Thank you to Evie Woods and One More Chapter for a DRC and ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

This is one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read this year. I was drawn first to the cover and title, I skimmed the blurb and knew I had to read this one.

The story is rich and well plotted. The characters—each in their own but interconnected journeys—have depth and complexity. The setting is warm and inviting. An ode to book lovers everywhere. This is every magical thing that a book can be.

5⭐️ read and it made my top reads of 2023 list.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is a charming dual timeline story about 2 women. One from the past and one from the present. A missing bookshop links both and along with the rare book dealer, Henry. This turns into a cute romance with Henry and Martha. Such a cute and comforting read.

The Lost Bookshop is an English novel by Evie Woods. It is a book with two timelines that are ingeniously connected.

In the story in the present, it is Henry and Martha who play the main role. Martha is on the run from her aggressive husband. She finds a job as a housekeeper with Mrs. Bowden. She is slowly coming to rest there.
On the sidewalk, Henry walks around, looking for a bookstore. He is sure it must be there, he has been there once, but there is now a house on that spot and he meets Martha there. Henry is looking for a lost manuscript and Martha goes to help him.

The second line is the story of Opaline, early 20th century. When her father dies, her older brother Lyndon takes over the family business and forces her to marry. She refuses and flees, first to Paris where the well-known bookshop Shakespeare & Company gets a role, and later to Dublin where she starts her own bookshop. Unfortunately, her brother manages to find her and she is safely locked away in an institution for mental patients.

Both storylines are strongly intertwined and with a touch of magical realism it is a wonderful story to read. Empathizing with the characters in both times is no problem. Evie Woods expresses everything beautifully, develops her characters carefully and the descriptions of the environment are easy to imagine, even if it is unusual and fairytale-like. In the end, the stories slide together like a puzzle. The beginning of the book becomes the end of the book and that makes it a wonderful ending.

A great story about believing in yourself, perseverance, trust, family ties and above all a lot of love.

In addition to the ebook, I also listened to the audiobook version. With three voices that match the characters perfectly, it was a great pleasure to listen to the book.

I so loved this book. I became completely immersed in it, and didn’t want to put it down. It’s such an unusual story, told from dual timelines, and with three points of view. I was intrigued by the magical other- worldliness woven throughout it. I am not usually keen on fantasy in a novel, but occasionally one comes along which is so well written, that I am hooked in spite of myself. This is one such book.
I loved that there was no effort made by the author to try to explain the magical happenings. They just were.
The story of Opaline, in the 1920s, was harrowing at times, and pointed out the way that women were completely subjugated by men - husbands, fathers, brothers. What happened to many women then was horrific and heartbreaking, as they were considered to have no rights whatsoever, not even to their freedom.
The present day story of Henry and his search for an Emily Brontë unknown manuscript was intriguing. His relationship with Martha, a young woman desperate to escape from her abusive partner, and how they come to meet, is so well written. All of the characters are rounded and believable. I did like Madame Bowden, whose home Martha went to live in as her housekeeper.
History, literature, romance is all here in this delightful, whimsical novel Highly recommended.
My thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This is such a wonderful book, combining historical fiction, romantic fiction, and modern contemporary fiction, all with a magical twist. It is such a good book and I highly recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

The plot of this book centers on three characters: Opaline, living in the early to mid-1900s; Henri; and Martha, living more recently. In the book, therefore, we alternate a chapter for each character: Opaline, Martha, and Henry.
Opaline is the daughter of a wealthy family. Upon her father's death, her brother would like to marry her off to someone of his wealthy acquaintance. Opaline, however, decides to sell the first printing of a book very dear to her, and with the money, she runs away to become a rare book researcher.
Martha runs away from home, from a marriage to an abusive husband, and from a family that does not support her, and finds herself working as a maid in Madame Bowden's house.
Henry enters the story in front of the basement window where Martha sleeps, one morning, because he is looking for Opaline's lost bookshop for some studies.
It took me a while to read it because the book is quite long. Also, it is interesting at the beginning and at the end, but at some point in the middle, there is a kind of lull in the story.
I liked all the characters—I would say even Madame Bowden—and especially the slightly more sophisticated language in the chapters dedicated to Opaline. I think the character who faced the most difficulty was Opaline, from the beginning to the end of her story. She wanted to be independent as a woman in a historical period where women, if they wanted to help the family, had to marry into an influential family.
Marta and Harry, on the other hand, find themselves at one point investigating Opaline and her book shop together, each for a different reason.
There are quite a few references to the literature of the historical period in which Opaline lives, especially at the beginning of the book: she meets Joyce and Hemingway when they were still fairly unknown, and in her bookstore she has books like The Wizard of Oz for sale. Speaking of which, I would have liked more references from some authors or some slightly less well-known books, since Opaline is looking for rare books.
I recommend the book to those who do not mind reading books with this structure and where there are multiple stories intertwining. It is a book about books; there are romantic stories and a few scenes that are a bit strong.

This is a perfect book if you want to read something that mixes historical fiction, women's fiction and a pinch of magic.
There's plenty of potential, there's some very intriguing moment but I wasn't a fan of the characters.
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

3.75

This book isnt something I would naturally gravitate towards but the blurb sounded interesting so I thought Id give it a go and so glad I did

It took me a long while to get fully into it, I enjoy books with multi-pov and duel timeline, and did think by the end it really did work for this book. However, at the start to middle I found it really jarring and wasnt enjoying it as much. Id get sucked into one persons story and then suddenly dumped into another and I just struggled to find the rhythm of the book and really get into it

The last third of the book I flew though, I love seeing the different pieces fitting together and how the two timelines/povs came together, I also really enjoyed the element of magic

What an amazing and cozy read.
Historical fiction across a few timelines. Involving a mystery bookshop that appears to only particular people at certain points in time.

This story really transported me to different worlds seamlessly. Some chapters became very worrisome when it involved nuns and men taking control over a woman’s life and the extent they will go to.
I really enjoyed the unique plot and seeing the similarity in their different eras. From a husband to a brother or father and how they treat these women. To Henry who I was so annoyed with at his idiot ness when it came to women really did make me wonder how did he even have a fiancé with how his character went on.

Thank you to the author for making an interesting and beautiful covered novel.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book, in return for my honest review.

Sometimes when books are told from multiple different characters, I tend to focus on one character more than the others and follow their version closer. This was not the case here, all three perspectives drew me in and kept me engaged. I felt that the story really brought together Historical Fiction and an element of magical realism that was just divine. Under all of that, you find the element of Human Nature and how it drives our lives and choices. The whole book was phenomenally thought out and written. The only downside to the story, is I felt the ending came too a quick close and would have liked more detail.

Three lives intertwined as the search for the lost bookshop commenced. Henry, Martha, and Opaline have various struggles in life and boiks are their only companions towards healing. Their adventure were all set to find lost bookshops, manuscripts, and other printed gems. But what they found in the end is the healing they all deserve.

I loved this book. As a librarian who loves books and all things to do with books this magical dual time line story hit all the buttons. There is mystery, romance, trauma, sorrow, hope and lots of literary history.
Wonderful characters who you will bond with.
A truly whimsical story that will keep you captivated from start to finish.

It's the 1920's Opaline flees to Paris to escape her domineering brother who is intent on marrying her off to solve the family's financial problems. She has always had a love of books & plans on trying to become a book buyer and seller. She manages to get a job in a bookshop-Shakespeare & company. She is particularly drawn to the Bronte's & Emily in particular. When her brother is in danger of catching up with her she escapes to Dublin where she opens a book & curio shop.

A hundred years later, Martha has fled from her abusive husband. She has a deep mistrust of books but she has a story that yearns to be told & has words tattooed on her back. She finds employment as housekeeper to Madame Bowden- a somewhat eccentric elderly lady.

At the same time Henry- an avid bibliophile is trying to track down a mysterious bookshop that he has only been in once & has been able to find since. He is on the hunt for the fabled second novel penned by Emily Bronte.

These characters are bound together by a magical story of a quest and secrets. It cast a magical spell over me & I was really sad to reach the end. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. It will be a long while before I forget it.

An utterly magical story. I absolutely loved it... Now I'm off to buy Evie Gaughan's back catalogue.

Opaline and Martha, separated by decades but linked by a bookshop which seems to have just disappeared. A very enjoyable ,totally differently themed book.

Such an interesting idea and story that I enjoyed so much. The characters and the setting was just a journey into this world that I didn’t want to ever leave. I highly recommend this book.

Magical realism at its finest. The Lost Bookshop weaves two stories, one of a bookshop in Dublin in the first half of the 20th century. The bookshop has saved Opaline’s twice. The other story is set in the modern day.. Henry and Martha meet when Henry is researching his thesis about Emily Brontë and looking for a manuscript at a bookshop that doesn’t seem to exist any longer but is slowly growing and helping them in their new individual lives.

This was a very beautiful book and very emotional in places. I loved how it went between the two time lines the past and present but you could easily keep up with what was going on. Loved this book.

I was sent a copy of The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods to read and review by NetGalley. I really enjoyed this story. Magical and perfectly written. Each character telling their own part of the story. Books with a bit of history written into them are really interesting and I really enjoyed this one. Thank you!