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A review by thebookishpersuasion
The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Three women's pasts and futures revolve around one house set between a river and the beach in Watersend, South Carolina. Bonny, an ER doctor going through a divorce and trying to figure out her life. Piper, her daughter who is trying to right her wrong choices. Lainey, Bonny's best friend and a gifted artist whose mother disappeared 40 years ago in Watersend. The three women return to Watersend to support each other, unwind their pasts, and face the future in this work of women's fiction.
This book is told from the viewpoint of all three main characters, alternating between the three POVs. While it does occasionally include flashbacks to 40 years ago, it is primarily told in the present as Bonny, Piper, and Lainey navigate the consequences of the past and their choices in the present life. The characters are all very flawed but still lovable. Bonny is a doctor who is getting divorced from her cruel husband after ~20 years of marriage; she makes a horrible mistake while in the ER one night, and is trying to figure out how to move forward while facing Owen, Lainey's brother whom she has loved since she was 13. Piper flunked out of college and is trying to get over her cheating boyfriend under her mom's protective wings. Lainey is married and has two children, but she has never truly recovered from the disappearance of her mother, a drug addict, 40 years ago in Watersend. The story follows the characters as they take the summer to heal, make the choices needed to restart their lives, and unravel a few mysteries along the way.
I first discovered Pattie Callahan Henry's work in her historical fiction. I love Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Once Upon a Wardrobe, and her other historical fiction works, so I thought I would try some of her women's fiction as well even though it's not my favorite genre; however, I found this book sorely lacking. The dialogue is stiff, awkward, unnatural, and cliche. The plot wraps up all of the loose ends a little too neatly for me. A lot of the book feels like a Hallmark movie, and it reminds me a lot of Virgin River or Sweet Magnolias, if your familiar with those TV shows. The book throws around trite phrases every page or so which makes a lot of the characters' "healing" (in one summer) feel insincere and artificial. All in all, this book just wasn't for me. And my favorite character (no spoilers) didn't get the ending I wanted. However, I did finish the book, which is why I still gave it a 2/5.
This book is told from the viewpoint of all three main characters, alternating between the three POVs. While it does occasionally include flashbacks to 40 years ago, it is primarily told in the present as Bonny, Piper, and Lainey navigate the consequences of the past and their choices in the present life. The characters are all very flawed but still lovable. Bonny is a doctor who is getting divorced from her cruel husband after ~20 years of marriage; she makes a horrible mistake while in the ER one night, and is trying to figure out how to move forward while facing Owen, Lainey's brother whom she has loved since she was 13. Piper flunked out of college and is trying to get over her cheating boyfriend under her mom's protective wings. Lainey is married and has two children, but she has never truly recovered from the disappearance of her mother, a drug addict, 40 years ago in Watersend. The story follows the characters as they take the summer to heal, make the choices needed to restart their lives, and unravel a few mysteries along the way.
I first discovered Pattie Callahan Henry's work in her historical fiction. I love Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Once Upon a Wardrobe, and her other historical fiction works, so I thought I would try some of her women's fiction as well even though it's not my favorite genre; however, I found this book sorely lacking. The dialogue is stiff, awkward, unnatural, and cliche. The plot wraps up all of the loose ends a little too neatly for me. A lot of the book feels like a Hallmark movie, and it reminds me a lot of Virgin River or Sweet Magnolias, if your familiar with those TV shows. The book throws around trite phrases every page or so which makes a lot of the characters' "healing" (in one summer) feel insincere and artificial. All in all, this book just wasn't for me. And my favorite character (no spoilers) didn't get the ending I wanted. However, I did finish the book, which is why I still gave it a 2/5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Drug use