The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Title:  The British Booksellers

Author:  Kristy Cambron

Narrated by:  Barrie Kreinik

Publisher:  Thomas Nelson

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 18 minutes

Source: Thank-you to NetGalley for the audiobook review copy.  Thank-you Thomas Nelson and Austenprose for the review copy of the physical book.

Do you like to read books about bookstores or libraries?  I love to visit both, and I enjoy reading books about them.

The British Booksellers is a dual timeline novel set during WWI and WWII.  In the pre-WWI timeline, there is a love triangle. Amos Darby is a farmer’s son and is in love with Charlotte Terrington, an heiress. Will Holt is the Earl’s son and also in love with Charlotte.  Charlotte has been promised in marriage to Will, but what happened to her relationship with Amos?  What happened to Will?  In the WWII era, Charlotte and her daughter Eden ran a bookshop in Coventry.  Across the street is their bitter rival, Amos Darby and his bookshop.  When a mysterious American comes to town with a legal case against Eden, will all the secrets of the past come out?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I really enjoyed the dual timeline and how they perfectly went together.  The events of the past were finally revealed at the end of the WWII era to explain what was happening at the time.

·       The story was told through multiple points of view.

·       It was interesting how the trauma of WWI (the Great War) had ripple effects that impacted the next generation that were then at the forefront of WWII.  It’s always sad to me that there was not any help for soldiers who suffered from PTSD.

·       The Coventry blitz was devastating.  Afterwards, the Germans termed a new term in modern warfare:  Coventrieren which means “to devastate or raze a city to the ground.”

·       The build-up to the blitz was also nail-biting as bombs started to fall, the finding of hidden German paratrooper gear, and questions on whether the American lawyer is really an American or a German spy.

·      

I liked the addition of the land girls to the story and how they came to town to help run the Holt estate.

·       I really enjoyed the characters in this novel.  I particularly enjoyed that when I thought a character was not a good person like WWII era Amos, or WWI era Will, the story grew deeper, and more complex as you learned more about each person and that there was more to them than met the eye.

·       This story was also about forgiveness, second chances, and moving forward with life after a devastating occurrence.

·       It was interesting how the differences between classes was strict before WWI, but had eased by the time of WWII.

·       I listened to this book on audiobook.  Barrie Kreinik was a wonderful narrator, and I especially enjoyed the voice acting.

·       I enjoyed that this novel had both a second chance romance as well as an enemies to lovers romance.

·       This novel was a clean read.

·       Author Kristy Cambron included a great author’s note that explained her inspirations and the real history behind this novel.

Overall, The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron is a compelling historical fiction novel with engaging characters and a great dual timeline plot.  I highly recommend it.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Inspired by real accounts of the Forgotten Blitz bombings, The British Booksellers highlights the courage of those whose lives were forever changed by war—and the stories that bind us in the fight for what matters most.

A tenant farmer’s son had no business daring to dream of a future with an earl’s daughter, but that couldn’t keep Amos Darby from his secret friendship with Charlotte Terrington…until the reality of the Great War sobered youthful dreams. Now decades later, he bears the brutal scars of battles fought in the trenches and their futures that were stolen away. His return home doesn’t come with tender reunions, but with the hollow fulfillment of opening a bookshop on his own and retreating as a recluse within its walls.

When the future Earl of Harcourt chose Charlotte to be his wife, she knew she was destined for a loveless match. Though her heart had chosen another long ago, she pledges her future even as her husband goes to war. Twenty-five years later, Charlotte remains a war widow who divides her days between her late husband’s declining estate and operating a quaint Coventry bookshop—Eden Books, lovingly named after her grown daughter. And Amos is nothing more than the rival bookseller across the lane.

As war with Hitler looms, Eden is determined to preserve her father’s legacy. So when an American solicitor arrives threatening a lawsuit that could destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to preserve, mother and daughter prepare to fight back. But with devastation wrought by the Luftwaffe’s local blitz terrorizing the skies, battling bookshops—and lost loves, Amos and Charlotte—must put aside their differences and fight together to help Coventry survive.

From deep in the trenches of the Great War to the storied English countryside and the devastating Coventry Blitz of World War II, The British Booksellers explores the unbreakable bonds that unite us through love, loss, and the enduring solace that can be found between the pages of a book.

AUTHOR BIO

Kristy Cambron is an award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling debut The Butterfly and the Violin, and an author of nonfiction, including the Verse Mapping Series Bibles and Bible studies. Kristy's work has been named to Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations, and has been featured at CBN, Lifeway Women, Jesus Calling, Country Woman Magazine, MICI Magazine, Faithwire, Declare, (in)Courage, and Bible Gateway. She holds a degree in Art History/Research Writing and lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons, where she can probably be bribed with a peppermint mocha latte and a good read. You can connect with her at: kristycambron.com and versemapping.com.