Author: Amanda James
Imagine getting a flyer to visit the Midnight Bookshop, which you first must find by looking for it at midnight, and only then can you also visit during the daytime. Imagine that the bookshop has magical powers. Then imagine that these flyers were distributed to people visiting food banks due to the poverty and abuse they are suffering. Well, imagine no more because that is what the new book, The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James, is about.
Amanda James is the author of a book I absolutely loved, The Garden of Memories. Whilst in the Garden of Memories, we met a group of unlikely friends who got connected via a beautiful garden, in the Midnight Bookshop, we also met a group of unlikely friends who found the same bookshop flyer, and decided to visit the bookshop.
All three characters in the book are facing hardship. Jo is a child of working-class parents who made enough money to provide her with a wealthy lifestyle and opportunities, but her parents are too aspirational and imposing, so whilst they provide the money, this comes with expectations rather than love. As a result, she dropped out of university, shoplifts, and spends her days doing nothing except facing misery. She donates to the food bank, and this is how she finds flyers and meets others. Kye looks after his mother, who has a debilitating condition, and he faces abuse from his older brother, who does not allow him to continue his education but instead insists he must be his dealer and engage in crime. Adelaide is a victim of domestic abuse and goes to the food bank despite both she and her husband Mark having jobs. Mark spends all their money on alcohol whilst also beating her up and treating her like a domestic slave, controlling her appearance, friends, and hobbies, undermining her self-confidence, etc.
All three characters end up finding ways to come to the bookshop where they meet Fay, a mysterious woman who tells them that they do not choose the book, the book chooses them. The three new friends end up forming an unusual book club where they each read their book and then discuss it, and how the book relates to them. Books that choose them indeed are relatable and give them the strength to start fighting to change their lives for the better. The magical powers of the bookshop also take friends back in time, where they get to travel to the story of the book, and the story gets adapted to their circumstances, and makes them commit to changing their lives.
I absolutely loved the book club concept, where people read books and then come and discuss what they are about, and how they relate to them. This was very interesting, and I have been contemplating proposing this concept to one of my two book clubs for a while now. Maybe I will. I also loved the way friendships formed via book clubs because this is indeed what happens in these groups, as it has been the case with me with both of my book clubs, the UK and the US ones. I was only surprised that for a story about a book club, less focus is on books but more on personal stories, but I loved the concept of reading own books, and book choosing people, as well as the fantasy aspect of the book club. Even more so, I loved how new friends end up helping and supporting one another through hardship, which was a beautiful message. Also, the fact that these friendships are a chance encounter in a food bank is a beautiful touch, and reading about these chance encounters, so inherent to the UK, is what I absolutely loved in this book.
Thank you for reading!