The British Booksellers is a heartwarming second-chance romance and a page-turning story of surviving the Coventry Blitz during WWII.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, WWI Battlefield and WWII Home Front, Coventry

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My Summary of The British Booksellers:

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The British Booksellers. Thanks @AustenProse #AustenProsePR @ThomasNelson #NetGalley for a complimentary e ARC of #TheBritishBooksellers upon my request. All opinions are my own.

A secret childhood friendship between a tenant farmer’s son and an earl’s daughter blossoms into teenage infatuation until the Great War intervenes. Amos goes to war and Charlotte enters into a loveless marriage. Fast forward twenty-five years and Amos is the reclusive owner of a bookstore and Charlotte, a war widow, owns a competitive bookshop across the street. A solicitor arrives in town and threatens the existence of Charlotte’s bookstore. Amos tries to help from a distance, but he and Charlotte no longer have a close relationship. When WWII arrives on their doorsteps via the Coventry Blitz, the community including Amos and Charlotte must work together and put differences aside to help Coventry survive.

My Thoughts:

Multiple Points of View and Dual Timelines

The British Booksellers is told mainly from the points of view of three major characters: Amos, Charlotte, and Eden (Charlotte’s daughter). With the complicated backstory and a dual timeline, I don’t think that Eden’s point of view benefits the story. I think two main points of view would have been sufficient. Eden’s part didn’t add that much and could have been incorporated with Charlotte’s. This is just my personal opinion and didn’t affect my overall rating.

This story is not a case of two timelines colliding or intersecting. The past timeline (WWI) is interwoven with the present timeline (WWII) like flashbacks and allows us to fully appreciate the situation in which our main characters find themselves. It takes some time to unravel Charlotte’s and Amos’ history and how they ended up as rival booksellers. Why are they estranged? Why are they competitors? What broke their friendship? What happened to their childhood dream of opening a bookshop together? If the two timelines were laid out in chronological order it would tell one complete story. I liked the structure.

Likeable Characters

Although it might appear so at first, there are no villains here. I enjoyed each character’s arc. The real villain is war (and perhaps the class system!).

PTSD

One major theme is PTSD. It’s always tragic to realize that WWI and WWII veterans had so little mental health support.

Additional Themes

Other thoughtful themes include class differences, friendship, childhood friendship, community, competition, wartime conditions on the homefront, second-chance romance, loyalty, physical injuries, and mental health.

Content Consideration: PTSD, battlefield conditions, bombing

Recommending The British Booksellers

I’m recommending The British Booksellers for fans of compelling and well-told historical fiction with relatable characters and multilayered plots. The war portions are not overly graphic and there is no profanity. The romance is sweet and the friendships are dear. An overall great read that book clubs might enjoy.

My Rating:  4.5  Stars

Meet the Author of The British Booksellers, Kristy Cambron

KRISTY CAMBRON is a vintage-inspired storyteller writing from the space where beauty, art, and history intersect. She’s a Christy Award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling novels, THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN and THE PARIS DRESSMAKER, as well as nonfiction titles. She also serves as Vice President and literary agent with Gardner Literary.

Her work has been named to Cosmopolitan Best Historical Fiction Novels, Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal’s Best Books, and she received a Christy Award for her novel THE PAINTED CASTLE. Her work has been featured at Once Upon a Book Club Box, Frolic, Book Club Girl, BookBub, Country Woman magazine, and (in)Courage.

Kristy holds a degree in art history/research writing and spent fifteen years in education and leadership development for a Fortune 100 corporation, partnering with such companies as the Disney Institute, IBM/Kenexa, and Gallup before stepping away to pursue her passion for storytelling. Kristy lives in Indiana with her husband and three basketball-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a peppermint mocha latte and a good read.

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QOTD:

Is this compelling historical fiction on your TBR?

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