The Bookshop of the Broken-Hearted by Robert Hillman
I love the main character in Bookshop. His name is Tom Hope and he represents hope to a small boy named Peter (the son of his ex-wife) and to the new bookstore owner in town, Hannah (a Hungarian widow who is still trying to deal with what happened to her during the war).
Bookshop is set in rural Australia in the 1960s. Tom owns a sheep ranch and is a quiet, reliable man. But he's not exciting enough for his wife Trudy, who takes off and leaves her young son (Peter) with Tom. Which actually works out well for Peter because Trudy is not much into parenthood and Tom is.
Then Trudy comes back and breaks Tom's heart all over again. Luckily (or not, depending on how you feel about Hannah), he meets Hannah, who is opening a bookstore in town and needs someone to build her shelves. They immediately strike up a friendship ... and more. Which causes Tom much happiness and much angst.
The story is told in two parallel lines: the present and what happened to Hannah during and after the war. I truthfully liked the parts focused on Tom (and Peter) in the present more than the parts about Hannah in the past. She's kind of an infuriating character. You feel bad for all the hardships she had to endure in the past but she can be exasperating and unreasonable in the present. And you really want Tom to find happiness because he is such a good person.
Bookshop is set in rural Australia in the 1960s. Tom owns a sheep ranch and is a quiet, reliable man. But he's not exciting enough for his wife Trudy, who takes off and leaves her young son (Peter) with Tom. Which actually works out well for Peter because Trudy is not much into parenthood and Tom is.
Then Trudy comes back and breaks Tom's heart all over again. Luckily (or not, depending on how you feel about Hannah), he meets Hannah, who is opening a bookstore in town and needs someone to build her shelves. They immediately strike up a friendship ... and more. Which causes Tom much happiness and much angst.
The story is told in two parallel lines: the present and what happened to Hannah during and after the war. I truthfully liked the parts focused on Tom (and Peter) in the present more than the parts about Hannah in the past. She's kind of an infuriating character. You feel bad for all the hardships she had to endure in the past but she can be exasperating and unreasonable in the present. And you really want Tom to find happiness because he is such a good person.
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