A review by mrspenningalovesbooks
The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry
3.0
This book had a lot of high points, but also some super cliche dialogue that made me cringe. I loved the twenty-year old narrator, Piper, and her story made me want to read it more. Bonny, Lainey, and Owen’s friendship/relationship triangle was cringy to say the least, and I blamed Lainey for that. Owen needed better development as did Tim. I loved the concept of female relationships— mother/daughter, friends, and our mother’s friends. I also enjoyed the theme of how our past can taint us, but also open new pathways for our future. It’s a good summer read!
“Fear hung over us like a diseased cloud.”
“Art and stories offer meaning to our lives in way nothing else can. The soul needs story and meaning to help us endure this life.”
“We all do the best we can. There was forgiveness in this admission. We are all doing the best we could: as women, as mothers and as daughters. We hurt each other; we mend and we break and we try again, until we can’t and the headstone has its final day. And yet our hearts reach out for both love and forgiveness, granted and accepted.
“Fear hung over us like a diseased cloud.”
“Art and stories offer meaning to our lives in way nothing else can. The soul needs story and meaning to help us endure this life.”
“We all do the best we can. There was forgiveness in this admission. We are all doing the best we could: as women, as mothers and as daughters. We hurt each other; we mend and we break and we try again, until we can’t and the headstone has its final day. And yet our hearts reach out for both love and forgiveness, granted and accepted.