The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

 

 

Title: The Christmas Bookshop

Author:  Jenny Colgan

Narrated by:  Eilidh Beaton

Publisher: Harper Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive.  Thank-yo

Have you ever shopped at a Christmas shop?  What about a Christmas Book Shop?

I’ve been to Frankenmuth Michigan over twenty years ago and it was filled with beautiful Christmas stores. I need to go back someday.  I’ve never been to a Christmas Book Shop, but I would love it.

In The Christmas Bookshop, Carmen has lost her job working in retail when the store she works at closes for good.  With no prospects in her town, she goes to live with her sister Sofia and her children in Edinburgh.  Sofia is a lawyer with a client who owns a book shop that is going to close.  Sofia hopes that Carmen can help the shop to make a profit over the Christmas season.  Carmen is not sure she can do it, but she decides to give it a try.  Along the way she meets two potential suitors.  What will Carmen do with life and which suitor will she chose?

Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors and I love her Christmas stories. I love that her stories often involve a woman down on her luck who manages to find out what her passions in life are and make a fresh start.  I love bookstores so reading about how Carmen is able to spruce up the store and reinvent it as a Christmas Bookshop was delightful.  I was also intrigued by the vivid descriptions of Edinburgh.  It made me really want to visit this city and see the architecture.  It sounds like a beautiful place to visit at Christmas.

I also loved that Carmen and Sofia were two very different sisters that didn’t really get along, but they are able to really understand each other and have a better relationship in this story.  I also loved Carmen’s relationship with her nieces and nephew.  I also loved the bookshop owner, Mr. McCredie.  I loved how his story slowly came together piece by piece. 

Eilidh Beaton was a soothing narrator who gave the characters a good voice.  Each character had a different voice from her, which I enjoy.  This overall was a very enjoyable and charming Christmas story.