Author: Helen Phifer
The Vanishing Bookstore is a book I wanted to read but at the same time, I didn’t so I could savor it. Therefore, I spread it for a week because I just had to, and I felt sorry when I finished it.
The Vanishing Bookstore is a book telling the story of three sisters and a niece, all witches from Salem who were haunted, for centuries, by the witch hunter who became immortal following a curse from the person he wrongly executed. One sister, Lenora (Lennie), and a niece, Dora, in this timeline, live in London to try to escape the witch hunter, George, but he finds them and brings Dora forget-me-nots flowers, a typical sign that he found them even if, in that timeline, they do not remember him. Well, Dora does not remember anything at all. The aunt, Lenora, then takes Dora to Salem on a hunt for a lost book of spells from her mother, who is on a deathbed in every timeline due to cancer, and on a quest for Dora to remember her past and regain her power so they can defeat the evil witch hunter and live a life of peace and healing the world. As it turns out, the lost book of spells is in the bookstore created secretly during their first timeline, in the Puritan era, by Ambrose, George’s brother, who has also been in love with Dora in all timelines. The bookstore vanished because Dora wished it to vanish when she was trying to escape the witch hunt with Ambrose, who, in each timeline, tried to save her so they could find love and peace together. The Vanishing Bookstore was also an act of protest against Puritanism because Puritans were banning reading apart from the Bible. Thus, Ambrose – a brother of the witch hunter and the son of a judge sentencing women as witches – decided to have a secret bookstore by buying books from sailors.
The Vanishing Bookstore was a wonderful story full of excitement, learning about spells, but most importantly about herbs and their healing power, along with crystals, etc. I enjoyed reading this part, and the peaceful vision of the world promoted by sisters who just want to grow flowers and plants, and heal the world, which put them on a witch hunt too, because in the first timeline, they lived outside of Salem but got tricked into the town to be hanged. The sisters and Dora are also portrayed nicely, and their witchy clothes are nicely linked to Gothicism. I also loved crystals and the promotion of their healing power. This was my favorite, probably. I also truly liked the portrayal of Salem, MA and the contrast between the witch hunt of the past vs a tourist attraction of the present (Salem of today has a witch museum, witch walks, etc). I thought that was well-written, and it made me want to visit Salem, MA, to explore the town myself.
A lovely book. The ending is somewhat abrupt and underdeveloped, but I did not mind because I also preferred the book to be about sisters rather than the witch hunter. Very much recommended.
Thank you for reading!