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| Genre: Women's Fiction Publisher: Thomas Nelson Releases: Feb. 26, 2019 336 pages |
Brought together by a charming bookstore in England, three women fight to defy expectations, dream new dreams, and welcome love into their lives.
As a counselor, Sophia Barrett is trained to help people cope with their burdens. But when she meets a new patient whose troubles mirror her own, she realizes she hasn’t dealt with the pain of her recent past. After making a snap decision to get away for the summer, Sophia moves overseas to an apartment above a charming bookstore in Cornwall, England. She is hopeful she will find peace there surrounded by her favorite thing: great literature.
Bookstore owner Ginny Rose is desperate to save her business without asking for help from a husband who’s decided to take a break from their marriage. Ginny never imagined she’d be solely responsible for keeping afloat her husband’s dream, but the unexpected friendship with her new renter has her feeling more optimistic. Between the two of them—and Ginny’s brother-in-law, William—the bookstore might stand a chance.
Then Sophia finds a notebook in the bookstore that contains journal entries from Emily Fairfax, a governess who lived in Cornwall more than 150 years ago. Sophia learns that Emily harbored a secret passion for becoming an authoress—as well as a deep love for her childhood friend, Edward, whose station she dared not dream to touch.
Eager to know more of Emily’s story, Sophia goes on a quest—dragging Ginny and William with her—to discover the heart of the woman behind the beautiful entries. Soon Ginny’s need to save the bookstore becomes more than a way to save her marriage, and Sophia finds new purpose of her own. Together they find that sometimes both heartache and hope can reach across the centuries.
My Rating & Thoughts: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 (5 stars)
Releases February 26th!
This book sucked me right in! I very quickly found myself caring about Sophia. She is struggling with mixed feelings after the death of her abusive fiancé. She realizes she is not ready to go back to work after 3 months, deciding she needs a change in scenery she makes the decision to go to Cornwall, England. When she arrives in England we meet Ginny, William and Emily. The more characters I met the more invested in the story I became.
In England Sophia discovers an old journal that captures her attention and with the help of William she is able to not only discover who the writer was but quite a bit about her life. Along the way Sophia and William grow close. Can Sophia open herself up to the possibility of a new relationship after the hurt of the past?
While each character captured my heart in a different way, it was Ginny’s circumstances that broke my heart. I was very pleased with the support she received from those she didn’t expect it from. I was very pleased with the ending we were given for each character. However it would be great if sometime in the future we could catch up with these characters again.
This book really got me thinking. I highlighted so many sentences while reading this book. Many of the things learned by Sophia & Ginny are things that we all need to remember. While the story did include some difficult situations such as an abusive relationship, a husband’s abandonment, and a seemingly impossible dream the overall story was not depressing but rather I found it encouraging. The message I take away from it is that God is always there to help you navigate the hard times and rise above them. Highly recommend!
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley.
Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
