Loveday Jenna Carlew works in a second-hand bookstore, Lost For Words, in York. She's a bibliophile and a loner, and as the book progresses we slowly start unravelling the mystery of her past and what's made her so suspicious of people and of attachments.

I surprised myself by how much I loved this book. It's not my usual genre at all - I picked it based on the bookshop setting (a definite weakness of mine!) but somehow expected something a little less real, and a little more magical. By the end, though, I was definitely snuffling, and read the second half of the book practically in one sitting!

At first, I didn't really take to Loveday (a traditional Cornish name, I learned). She's young and awkward and makes too many comments - because this is told in first person - about people reacting to her tattooes, as if she's some kind of punk chick when the ink is actually the first lines from her favourite novels.

As the story continues there are still a few moments when I thought she was being a bit... well, she pushes everyone away and defends it as 'sensible', and the remarks did occasionally have me rolling my eyes. And then the story turns out to be a bit of a romance - absolutely not my genre!

And yet... woven through alternate chapters is the mystery of Loveday's childhood, and it's impossible not to feel for her. The past is handled so very well, and makes the present scenes very understandable and real.

As I said, by the time I got to the last few chapters I was invested enough to be teary about it all. Any book that moves you so is probably a worthy consideration for a first-line (see top) tattoo - or, more realistically, a good review!

Not one I'd recommend to everyone, but for something a bit different, or a bit less 'genre' than my usual reading, definitely a great find.

‘Lost for Words' is exactly the sort of novel that I love to read most of all. I love stories where issues are in the forefront and waiting to be resolved. It fits me to a ‘T’. This novel is a work of contemporary fiction fuelled by a truly pertinent back story, a fizz of romance, a heartrending mystery and a whole pile of hidden secrets making up the main storyline. Beautifully told, almost lyrically, its heroine is Loveday Cardew, a young women who is a true bibliophile working in a bookshop in the picturesque city of York. She has always loved reading, encouraged by her parents who had many books in their home. In fact she relates to books far more easily than she relates to humans. She adores her work; it is her dream job, her perfect fit. But Lovejoy is haunted by unhappy memories of when her joyful childhood days filled with love and caring came to a sudden and unexpected end one horrendous night. She lost her cherished parents in one fell swoop and spent the rest of her childhood in the care system or with fosterers. It’s a time she keeps secret and with good reason. The bookshop owned by flamboyant, kind Archie became her refuge from the very time she entered its doors and was offered a part-time job as a schoolgirl employee, until the present day, now living independently and working there as a grown woman.

Lovejoy is a wonderfully endearing character. She is fragile, damaged and full of perceived shame and hurt. Her only defence is keeping herself to herself and guarding her secrets fiercely. The gradual revelation of her sad story is a masterly device; slow morsels of information released at first then escalating as the mystery and horror of her story becomes evident, cruelly initiated by the day that Lovejoy suspects that someone has found out about her past and her true identity. Someone is playing mind games with her, forcing her hand with a menace that takes her breath away and puts daggers into her heart. Convinced that she will be driven away by her tormentor, Lovejoy must decide who she can trust, if anyone, and make the decision of how she can find the right words to tell her story. Her boyfriend Nathan has always been gentle, caring and understanding about her desire for privacy and respects her wishes. Her developing relationship with Nathan was encouraging her to open up ever so slightly but this new closeness and Nathan’s openness felt threatening as well. As she ponders what she should do, matters are taken completely out of her hands and her life is suddenly under serious threat. The finale of this story is thrilling, full of tension and superbly concluded. I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Zaffre for my copy of ‘Lost for Words', sent to me in return for an honest review. This book is a real page-turner, an excellent read full of tension, emotion and driven by a compelling back story. It’s a very well deserved 4.5* review from me.

3.5

An emotional yet a quiet read

Written by the POV of Loveday, we are introduced to her life and the very few people in it and slowly on what makes Loveday the way she is.
The chapters go back and forth between present and
past - revealing the affects of domestic violence and crime on people's lives.

But it was not an intense read but strangely comforting in some ways to know that survival and happiness are not impossible even through some sadness in the end.

I really liked Archie's character.

My favorite parts are the descriptions of Loveday's work in the bookshop and her passion for books.

There is a bit of poetry in the book, I don't usually enjoy English poetry but I did like "Books Behave"

Having read and loved both of Stephanie Butland's previous books I was looking forward to reading this latest title and I was not disappointed. In fact, I think this is the best so far - I loved it. Of course as an ex librarian, with an obsessive passion for books, I was probably pre-disposed to be enchanted by someone who prefers books to people, I can quite understand the notion that you know where you are with books.

Loveday works at the second-hand bookshop Lost for Words. She is a fascinating character, that we gradually get to know as the book unfolds, by means of a multi thread narrative looking at the past (history), present (poetry) and a more recent past (crime). She is a troubled soul, that prefers the solace and comfort of books to the everyday interaction with people who she tries as near as possible to keep at arm's length. Archie, her boss and what passes for a friend (or as near as she'll allow) is the guardian angel that stepped into her life when she needed one most and has remained constant.

Don't be fooled by the cosy cover, this is a story with a mystery at its heart, that deals with some hard-hitting subjects. As a balance it also has humour, especially when Loveday offers her wry and often acerbic views on people, especially people who inhabit bookshops. From experience I can confirm that the same people also inhabit libraries and exhibit the same traits that had me nodding in heartfelt agreement.

I have no intention of revealing anything about the plot than that revealed in the blurb. This is a story that needs to be read, without any hint of what happens or might happen next. It is a story that works because the characters are exceptionally well drawn, realistic and believable. Loveday is a character that I defy you not to be enchanted by, despite her failings, she has an outer confidence and self-reliance that hides her inner brittleness and fear of relationships. Archie, her boss, is a whirlwind of larger than life bonhomie, with a collection of life tales that no-one is ever sure is true, but his heart of gold is never in doubt. Then we have Rob and Nathan, who both vie for Loveday's affections, with differing strategies and success, all I will say is I might be a little bit in love with one of them myself, but you'll need to read it yourself to discover who that might be.

This is a book that as all the elements that I look for in a good read, great storyline, believable characters and a perfect balance of humour, pathos and romance. It had me smirking one minute and almost in tears the next. With several 'nooo' moments this book was heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure with more than one heart stopping moment. I have no hesitation in recommending this book, it is quite simply brilliant.

It's a book that talks about the power of books, it's especially written for bookworms. I loved that, I loved how the story progressed, the writing is great, but most of all, I loved the characters, they make this book. This was a very interesting, comforting read, and it's definitely a book that I will re-read soon.

Loveday Cardew is a quiet, antisocial bookworm working in a small bookshop in York. She closes herself off from relationships and finds herself lost for words when she tries to talk to people.

But she wasn't always this way, and through flashbacks and memories we find out what happened in Loveday's past that has left her so guarded and reluctant to trust anyone.

I really need to stop judging books by their covers. This is the second one recently where I've been completely wrong. I was expecting a fluffy light hearted tale, and really I only picked this up because it's about a bookworm with a nose ring and tattoos, and it's set in York, a city that I love to visit.

But this is a very thoughtful and beautifully written story, with flawed and interesting characters with a lot of depth to them.

The characters are wonderful, bookshop owner Archie has an almost magical, larger than life personality, Nathan (who is actually a magician) seems warm and kind and Loveday is complicated and spiky.

Dark past aside I identified very strongly with Loveday. The way she looks, they way she can never think of anything to say to people, the way she feels at social events, and the way she feels about books - almost everything that she said about herself are things that I've thought about myself at one time or another.

Loveday narrates the book, and her voice is compelling and shows a warmer and shyer side to her than the one she shows to the world. It drew me into the story and I really didn't want to put it down until I found out what had happened with her family and her ex-boyfriend that made her want to hide from the world.

The end is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. I'm glad I ignored my first impression and took a chance on this one.

I loved so many things about this book. It is narrated by the most appealing heroine named Loveday. She works at Lost for Words, a bookshop in York which is owned by the colourful Archie, a man with a heart of gold. There are clues from the start that Loveday has had a difficult past and she is a prickly character with an edge. Her tattoos, nose piercing and goth image help her to keep people at at a distance.
Loveday is a fantastic character, defensive and spirited; she never comes across as a victim despite her tragic story. She is someone who spends her days surviving rather than living, writing poetry that she hides under her bed. Why she lives this way is slowly revealed in her story.
It is told in three time- frames, going back into Loveday’s past and is a brilliant story about surviving, and full of hope. I loved this author’s way with words and her astute observations. There are so many good things I could say about this book. It is is surprising, affecting and beautifully finished but the main thing is that it is brilliant and I suspect my voice will be one of many shouting about how good it is.

I loved the characters in the book and would like to hear more of their stories, although I appreciated the clever way of telling us what happened next. The heroines name "Loveday" immediately made me think of my favourite ever book, The little white horse by Elizabeth Goudge, and this book shares some of the magical and redemptive qualities of that. Loveday has a past which is gradually revealed to us, and with the help of her friends she gradually comes to terms with this and begins to see a different future. Loveday has a stalker, although giving him an umedicated mental illness did feel a bit lazy (most people with mental health problems are not at all violent, there is no reason why bipolar disorder would make you a stalker).

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and hope for a series with the same characters.

Best book I have read in awhile. Loveday is such a genuine character who acts and thinks like we all would like too. Her love of books /the bookshop and Archie , the bookshop owner who seems to rescue and ground her is so heart warming . Some good and not so good people / relationships make Loveday the remarkable character she is. Rob shows her that violence cannot be tolerated , Nathan that it takes some magic and poetry to love unconditionally. Well Archie is so perceptive but full of fun . Loveday has a past she would like to forget but her adventures in this bookshop allow her to remember this past but move forward. A quaint entertaining read .

Just beautiful a book that really appeals to book lovers around the world. Loveday is a character that you can help but fall in love with and the emotions that go along with this story really draw you in till the very last page. It left me with quite the book hangover after reading.

This book is a surprise. On first glance you assume that it is a book about a young women "finding" her self as well as love in a quaint bookshop in a lovely little city (York). But it soon becomes apparent that this is not a book like that at all., and is in fact (though I do love that genre) rather excellent.
Loveday (which in case you didn't grew up reading the little white horse, is a trad Cornish name), is a complex withdrawn introverted girl, who has learnt to be reliant on herself, and her main source of human interaction is through the pages of books. As we first meet her, she seems prickly and aloof. Very untrusting, she reveals little about herself, even to herself, in a first person narrative, as she desperately wants to hide from her past, and protect herself from other people.
Through the genres of Poetry (the present), Crime (her childhood), and History (a previous bad relationship), unfolds a wonderful complex, and well considered story of domestic abuse in its various forms, and the consequences it has on people's lives.
I would definately recommend this book, because although it is a book about a girl who finds love in a bookshop, it is also so much more then that.

I really loved this book because the love of books and reading came through. Us bookworms can understand Loveday's love and devotion of books.
Loveday has a passion for books and poetry: she has her perfect job working in a small secondhand bookshop. She spends her time going through donations and looking for lost treasures.
Loveday is lost and alone. Secrets from her past come back to haunt her: can she let go of the past and find a positive future?
Questions need to be answered but is Loveday strong enough to ask them?

I enjoyed Lost For Words; I found it readable, humane and rather perceptive.

Loveday Cardew is a damaged young woman working in a second-hand bookshop, and she also recounts episodes from her childhood trauma and her relationship with a somewhat sinister ex-boyfriend and so on, all told in a fractured timescale… It sounds very familiar ground with the potential to be pretty dreadful, but it's so well done here that it felt very fresh and involving to me. Loveday's narrative voice is authentic and very engaging and the account of the violent disintegration of a once-loving family is compassionate and believable. The present-day story of her beginning to resolve the scars is well handled; it is intelligent and thoughtful and almost entirely without implausible sentimentality. There is a distinct whiff of a Richard Curtis film about the plot, but it's a well told tale and I was happy to go along with even the rather implausible ending.

You may get a sense of Loveday's voice from these little observations: of a party "..and there's a lot of wine and loads of that food that means you don't stop eating all night but you have to make toast when you get home because you're starving." Or, " 'Fresh start', in case you're wondering, is social worker code for 'your life is now screwed but at least we can do something about the pointing and whispering." I liked it a lot and I found it genuinely funny in places and very touching in others.

Stephanie Butland creates a very credible cast of characters and a decent sense of place in York. She writes well and I found myself very carried along by Loveday's recounting of her story. The references to books are enjoyable and never overdone or show-offy and the whole thing was an engaging and quite gripping read which I can recommend.

(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)

A gem of a book. I found I was quickly drawn into and became involved in the story which was told in threads of past and present. The charaacters were all very human, complete with flaws which made them believable. The book contained several poems which added to the way the story was told, together with references to a range of books. Do not start reading this gripping book unless you have lots of time to spare as you may find it hard to put down.

What a treat. A beautifully written book, with enough of an edge to prevent it from being bland.
Loveday is a lost soul trying hard not to be. Her present life is mainly uneventful, at the beginning of the story, at least. Flashbacks show us that her childhood was much more eventful, and not in a good way.
Although the plot develops, the characters, and especially Loveday, are much more important. And the books.
A book that is difficult to categorize but well worth reading.

Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland a book that will be published by Bonnier Zaffre this next April 20th has been love at first...word!

This book is dense, cured, spectacularly interesting, a great literary work according to my point of view and surely dedicated to all the book lovers and bookworms of this world.

It was interesting to read The Lost Words also because of the informations about second-hand books market. I didn't know of a lot of it although I buy a lot of second-hand books.



Every book suggestion of Loveday here and there spectacularly important, rich and precious, and most of them...My favorite books! for sure.

When I opened the file for giving a look at this book I couldn't interrupt my reading anymore because captured by the narration and first words of Loveday.

Her words started to resonate in my mind and I felt the urgency of discovering much more of her life-story.

The narration is conducted in first person by Loveday, "interrupted" just for few pages close to the end for giving space to another central character of the book.

Loveday is the 25 years old protagonist of the tale, an acculturated shop girl of the second-hand-book owned by Archie and called The Lost Words.

The interior dialogue of Loveday will let you show the profound soul of this girl, her dreams, her fears, her expectations and her brutal skepticism of a happy life and the reason why one day she ended up to work in The Lost Words her favorite place in the world. Although young she has an important and sad past behind her but also a responsible life because she knows what it meant sufferance once.

Loveday after all doesn't want to avoid human contacts, just she thinks that with books is more easy.

More easy to communicate, more easy to find a connection than not with other human beings. And she is scared. Scared to commit the errors of a past she would want to remove although bittersweet and in the first time surely beautiful.

Scared to become like her parents.

Loveday has a profound respect, gratitude for Archie the owner of The Lost Words Book Shop because once she hired her giving her the opportunity to work in a privileged place. A place where a book can cost few pennies but also much more and where culture is also synonymy of antique, precious, delicate.

Loveday won't miss to tell us in a sort of mental-time-travel and flashbacks, what happened in the past to her family, a normal one with some problems.

A secret she would want to reveal to all her dear ones but that, being pretty discreet she doesn't for not ruin any kind of relationship. Thinking that maybe she wouldn't be loved anymore if she would tell the truth, because sometimes people don't want truth but lies.

Scared by a possible relationship with a man because of her past, she is diffident.

Nathan a poet and a man able to understand her maybe can changes her moody idea of love although it seems that Loveday is only grateful to him for his company.

But: if someone would tell to Nathan something of her past and he would change idea about her? asks at some point to herself a scared Loveday.

From the past in fact there are some worrying signals...

Arrivals of old books of her family, mostly classics, and then a cookbook with a postcard and more.

What is it going on?

And who can be the sender of all these books?

Who knows: maybe her past boyfriend, with a sick love for her. Rob...

Maybe it is just love.

I did appreciate and I cried for sure reading the words of Loveday, in the wonderful beautiful last poem dedicated to someone she loved immensely.

I found the book plenty of wonderful values: gratitude, solidity, difficulty sorted out thanks to love, real help, sometimes not visible but always there, love for reading and love for learning, love for life, love for new starts and new beginnings, forgiveness and understanding.

I highly suggest this book to all the book lovers of this world.

It is...Fascinating. Truly fascinating and spectacular.



And as it says Loveday at the end in a poem:



"A Bookshop is not

magic, but it can

slowly heal your

heart."



I thank NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for this book.

I was seduced into reading this book when I realised it was mainly set in a bookshop. And not only that, a higgledypiggledy secondhand bookshop in York. Being from Yorkshire, York is one of my favourite places to visit and I could quite happily lose myself in bookshops like that for hours (in fact, I imagined it to be a little bit like one near the cathedral that I love going in for its quirkiness).

Aside from the setting, I very quickly fell in love with the protagonist, Loveday Cardew. Spiky, prickly and sarcastic, she had me laughing out loud at several of her one-liners. She basically says and does the things that many of us wish we could, without being concerned with what people might think about her. But Loveday didn’t start out this way. Flipping between her childhood and present day, we learn that before the “incident” there was quite a different Loveday. As we get to know her better, we also learn the reasons that she has become the way she is now. Loveday was one of several characters in this book that I found incredibly endearing. Archie, the bookshop owner, is a delight, as is his warmth towards Loveday. Nathan, Poet and wearer of cravats, is also a wonderful character.

This is a story about hurt and self-preservation but above all else love, and how to let it back into your life. There is a little mystery running through the book too, as boxes of books that Loveday recognises from her childhood begin arriving in the shop but this is more a vehicle for allowing us to see into Loveday’s past as she reminisces.

Quirky and touching and Loveday is such a fabulous character, I think she will be with me for a while yet.

Despite the title, I won't be lost for words reviewing this lovely book. It is full of characters you will take to your heart and I loved the way the story unfolded. Loveday Cardew is a young woman in her twenties, quite a spiky character, who works in an independent bookshop in York owned by the wonderfully eccentric Archie. Some years previously as a young girl, as the story hints at and gradually reveals, she suffered terrible loss. This is one of the reasons she now wants to be so self-sufficient and closes herself off from most relationships. She guards her past secrets well and doesn't discuss them with anyone. So when some books arrive at her bookshop which suggest that someone knows about her past and is trying to send her a message, she feels that her carefully constructed life may be about to fall apart.

As with Stephanie Butland's previous novels, the story takes place over a few time frames. The present day story is related under chapters called Poetry, reflecting how Loveday is beginning to attend poetry evenings and share her own poetry. Chapters from the recnt past looking at her relationship with ex-boyfriend Rob are entitled Crime and chapters dealing with Loveday's childhood are appropriately named History. There was also a particularly poignant chapter called Memoir.

There were a few small details which really caught my attention. I loved the idea that having to finish a chapter of a book is an acceptable reason to be late for work! And I really liked the notice-board Loveday had in the bookshop for things 'Found in a Book'. It made me think about the strangest thing I had ever found in a book but I don't think I've found anything very interesting. I did buy a second hand Nigella cookbook once which had lots of notes in the margins (marginalia as I discovered it is called). Some were just suggested changes to the recipe but some were things like 'this is Mark's favourite' or 'must try this when Jane and Martin come round!'

It is the characters which make this a very special book. Part of me wanted to wrap Loveday in a hug and to look after her but of course there's no way she would let anyone do that. She's a character you want to protect from the heartbreak that she feels she has to hide from everyone. She is scared to let herself love and be loved and with what she has gone through and how she has been let down in the past who could blame her? Could magician and poet Nathan be the one to break through her barriers?

Archie is also a fabulous character. Larger than life with a huge heart and capacity to love. Archie has had the most unconventional life with many hints at the adventures in his past. While reading about him, I had a picture of Simon Callow in mind! He was such a generous, caring character and the quiet compassion he showed Loveday was enough to make me love him.

Lost for Words is a book I adored. It's full of warmth with wonderful characters and it's full of the magic and power of books. If you love books set in bookshops, you'll love it. If you love books about damaged people learning to love again, you'll love it. If you love books with quirky characters, you'll love it. In fact, if you love any beautifully written story, you'll love Lost For Words!

While the tittle may be at a loss for words, the book isn't. The book suffers from a character who is surrounded and sputters to many of them, dispersed, just thrown, for the receiver to make sense of them all and feels the need to run before being crushed by them.
Not for me, sorry.