This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really like Jojo Moyes. I just finished reading her latest book, The Giver of Stars, so I thought it was time to catch up on my tbr list and read The Peacock Emporium. I had not realized that this book was originally published in England in 2004, so this book is one of her earliest novels. It is apparent how much she has grown as a writer since The Peacock Emporium was written. The book was a bit of a mess, the way it jumped between time periods and characters. Just when I was getting comfortable with what was happening, suddenly I'd be reading about a new character. It was hard to adjust to.

That being said, I actually kind of liked this book. The story line was interesting and it came together well by the end of the book. I think the jarring transitions show Moyes' inexperience as a writer at the time this book was published. The story line meanders, and I wondered where the story was heading and which story line was the main one at times. However, in the end I enjoyed the book and the characters. It is not a book I would necessarily recommend, unless you are a fan of the author and want to experience how much she has grown as a writer. I'm happy I read it.

A lovely little book about the ways family history can twist our own lives, and how we can break free by learning more about the past to create a new future.

JoJo Moyes is my favorite author. each of her books are beautiful and enjoyable reads. very much liked this novel.

JoJo Moyes is a favorite author of mine, but this book is definitely not one of her best. I found it difficult to get into, with so many so-so characters and switching back and forth from the past to the present. It did come together in the end, but I honestly would not have finished the book, had I not been such a fan of the author.

A wonderful story that spans time and generations, with unexpected connections among its many interesting characters. This reminded me very much of Maeve Binchy's books -- so if you have readers who miss her stories, this particular Jojo Moyes book would be most welcome!

Moyes’ books are always enjoyable. The Peacock Emporium is set in the modern day, but feels like a throwback. The characters actually talk to each and visit face to face, rather than live on their phones. It was at once refreshing and slightly unbelievable. As always, the characters are real and honest, while the circumstances are somewhat overwrought. I always look forward to her next novel.

I have read all of Jojo Moyes other novels so I was thrilled to get my hands on her newest publication. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment with characters that weren't fully developed and a plot that I really didn't care about.

I am a HUGE fan of Jojo Moyes, but couldn't find her in this title. I didn't complete it as I found I just didn't care what happened to the characters. I would love to visit the Peacock Emporium and enjoy a cup of espresso, but as far as a vested interest in the lives of the characters, I found it too easy to walk away.

3.5 stars

I'm honestly surprised at how low people have rated this. I thought this was an enjoyable read, and I found the main character, Suzanna to be relatable. This was a bittersweet story with some sad elements, which seems to be Moyes' specialty. The only thing I didn't love was at times, all the different perspectives could get a little confusing.

Thanks to Penguin Books and NetGalley for the eARC. This will be posted on Goodreads and to Amazon's and Barnes and Noble's websites.

If I based this review on the second half of the book, it easily could have gotten four stars from me, but the first half seemed to drag by, it was so slow to build that I came very close to not reading the rest of it. Luckily, I have a really hard time not finishing a book, so I kept at it and was eventually rewarded. I had expected this story to be about Athene and her daughter Suzanna, but it ended up being more about Vivi, who is the mother Suzanna grew up with than it did about Athene. I think that was the disappointment I had to fight through in the first part of the book. The blurb was just really misleading and it took me a while to warm up to Vivi's character. I had been expecting to read about this outlandish character in Athene and ended up reading about Vivi, who seemed to let everyone step all over her. Overall, mostly because of the first part that centered on Vivi, I have to say I liked this book, but it didn't really strike me as anything special and annoyed me by the misleading blurb.

Very different from the other Jojo Moyes books I’ve read. Took a bit to get into as it was a bit hard how the points of view kept changing within chapters without really any notice. But once you got used to it, I really enjoyed the character development and the story itself!

I really don't know what to say about this book. I generally love Jojo Moyes, but this just didn't do it for me. I thought all of the characters were pretty awful, either self-absorbed or clueless or awful or two-dimensional. There was also too much going on, following Suzanna while also dipping into her mother Athene's life in the past and her new acquaintance Alejandro's life as a South American immigrant to the UK. On top of that, the fact that she's having a financial crisis and opens this bizarrely whimsical, constantly changing store in a teeny town is so unrealistic as to be farcical. I really just didn't get the point of this story, and I don't recommend it. Of course Moyes followers (like myself) are going to read it anyway, but if you've never read one of her books, please, please don't start with this one!

I have enjoyed all of Jojo Moyes' books, both pre-Me Before You and post-MBY. The Peacock Emporium kept my interest throughout the book as the story lines of the interconnected characters came to the forefront. The characters were realistic and easy to like, even those who were particularly complicated. The novel's themes focused on mother-daughter relationships, forgiveness, betrayal, guilt, family connections, second chances and love. There were times I cried, and others where I was uplifted. I didn't want the story to end.

Moyes found her writer's voice with Me Before You. I have found her early works are only average and nothing unique.

This book was given to me from netgalley for an honest review. This book is the story of the Fairley-humes family and sheds light on their daughter Susanna. She is struggling to find her identity in her marriage and family. She decide the best way to find her was is to open a shop, where she meets some many that change her life and give it meaning. Although I struggled feeling empathy for Susanna for most of the book, I still loved this book so much.

Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! I appreciate the kindness. <3

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This story follows real people in real life situations. Our main characters are women to be admired as they make their lives better. Full of love, friendship, and coffee, this novel is a solid Jojo Moyes title.

I received ARC on 4/26 and I was sick and did not start reading until 5/6 then I read it in one day.

I have read all of Jojo's books and I have come to the conclusion that I am a fan of her recent work,
and not her early works. I love her books now; I am hoping to read the final copy of The Giver of Stars as the preview blew me away.
Jojo, keep writing as you are now!

In the shop she is opening - she is designing it "my way"!!
She wants something magical; something separate from judging;
something to fill in what is missing
the hole in her life (family) has not been filled.
I was proud of how she stood her ground.

You can divide people into:
drains- always miserable, suck life out of everyone
radiators - warm people up

THE PEACOCK EMPORIUM by JoJo Moyes (originally published around 2005) is a story of two generations of women: Athene Forster, the wayward mother and her now adult daughter, Suzanna Peacock. Douglas Fairley-Hume married Athene, but she ran off within a few years and Suzanna was raised by Douglas and his second wife, Vivi, a local girl who grew up with him and adored him for many years. Suzanna had longed to escape her family by moving to London, but financial reversals have caused her and her husband, Neil, to return to the small town where she was raised. In another effort to "find herself," Suzanna opens a shop called The Peacock Emporium and gradually becomes friends with an employee named Jessie, and with Alejandro, a midwife from Argentina. Overall, this novel felt a bit slow moving and the characters were not as likeable as some in other, more romance-oriented works from Moyes.