Bloomsbury Girls
Bloomsbury Girls is a charming story set in the 1950s about female strength, independence, and community.
Synopsis: The internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world.
Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:
Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiancé was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances - most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.
Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she's been working to support the family following her husband's breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.
Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she's working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.
As they interact with various literary figures of the time - Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others - these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.
What appealed to you the most in this story?
I enjoyed all the characters in the store. Each one was fully developed and had their own quirks, dreams, and real-life problems. The women were smart, strong, and fed up with the men of the world not recognizing them. Even though their ideas were ignored, each woman in this story kept pushing to change the way society treats them in a male dominated world.
Well, not all the men were chauvinists. Ash was a male character that I really loved, and I loved how Jenner brought to light the racism that a man from India dealt with in Britian.
How was the audio?
Juliet Stevenson is one of my favorite narrators! Her various accents, inflections, and cadence are always on point, and she brings the dialogue in the story to life as you listen. I recommend the audio version, since this is a slow burn and the and Stevenson’s narration makes the story so much more engaging as she pulls you into the story and character’s lives.
How was the pace?
This is a slow burn and the pace kept me from fully “getting into” the story.
Do you recommend this book?
If you are looking for a charming story about authors and bookstores, then you may enjoy this one!
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
