Shauna Robinson's The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is one of those light fantasies that avid readers really enjoy immersing themselves into for a few days...especially when, as in this one, an appealing bookstore is thrown into the mix.
Lead character Maggie Banks is a young woman between jobs, so coming to Bell River to run a friend's bookshop while that friend goes on maternity leave is a complete no-brainer. Maggie plans to be in and out of Bell River in a matter of weeks so that she can resume her job search. But something happens; Maggie finds herself falling in love with the town, many of its residents, and one special guy who just so happens to work for the bookstore's majority owner - who turns out to be also the store's worst enemy. By buying controlling interests in various businesses in town, this man has been able to transform Bell River into a shrine to his dead grandfather, Edward Bell, a mid-century author whose reputation he fiercely protects and profits from.
According to legend, Edward Bell wrote his breakthrough novel at a small table inside what is now Cobblestone Books. For that reason, Cobblestone has become almost a Bell museum and the store is now forbidden to sell any book published after 1968. Notably, there are no other bookstores in town, and the only reliable customers Cobblestone has are literary tourists who come there to purchase Bell's books along with an occasional classic.
Maggie, though, is not a rule-follower, and she is determined to make the store more profitable during her friend's absence. That, as it turns out, translates into selling books "under the counter" and an upstairs bookclub that finds creative ways to rewrite the classics being sold downstairs in the bookshop. Disaster, of course, is always a breath away because the Bell grandson is inevitably going to find out what is really responsible for the increased sales at Cobblestone sooner or later. And when he does...well you can imagine what will happen.
I had a lot of fun reading The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks, but I was a little disappointed in the way its ultimate climax is resolved. What happens is predictable, but that's not really my gripe. It comes down to more of a problem with how drastically one of the principle characters very suddenly has to change personality in order for this particular ending to make any sense at all. Bell River's problems are just too easily and quickly resolved for me to have felt comfortable in that wonderful fantasy world all the way to the end. Of course, other readers may consider that all part of the fantasy world that Robinson creates here. If they do, they will absolutely love The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks.
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| Shauna Robinson |
I enjoyed Maggie as a character in this one. Her enthusiasm and her mistakes, and her opinions on books, and everything she did at the bookshop just made me smile. I enjoy reading light-hearted books like this one, even when the happy ending is a bit thin.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I read it, and I was happy enough to suspend reality while reading it. It was fun. I just think that what happens with the villain of the piece at the end is a stretch based upon his behavior during the first 70% of the novel. Have you read others of Robinson's? She seems to specialize in this kind of thing...very bookish writer. I'm thinking about reading another of hers but I'm hoping to first hear from someone who already has.
DeleteI haven't read any of her other books. But I liked this one enough I'd try her again.
DeleteThanks...I'm sure I will spot your review if you do.
DeleteAnd here I was thinking from the cover, it was about a store selling banned books against popular outcry! Sounds kind of like a forced setup to me, but also intriguing.
ReplyDeleteYou were mostly correct in your assumption. It's just that the banned books are specific to this one bookstore...and that every book written after 1968 is banned. But most of us thought exactly the same thing you did based upon the cover...this plot makes for a much more unusual story.
DeleteThe title seems misleading, but it is just a different kind of book banning, I suppose. The book store setting and the attempt to thwart the rules make it interesting, but maybe too unrealistic and too light for me.
ReplyDeleteTracy, it does require a pretty substantial level of suspension of disbelief, but if you can reach that level it's a lot of fun. Novels like this one are a nice change of pace sometimes, almost like a palate cleanser. :-)
DeleteYes, that kind of ending happens more than you might think in books like this. And I often wonder how long the grumpy character takes before he reverts to type as most people do, after the romance has worn off. Just call me a cynic.
ReplyDeleteCath, that's exactly what I was thinking...wonderful solution until the guy decides he really can't keep his promises. Luckily, there are lawyers involved in this solution, though, so he may not have any choice. Cynic = Survivor, in my opinion.
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