Kindle
$13.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
from $75.10
Paperback
$4.37
Buy used:
$4.37
$3.99 delivery May 17 - 20. Details
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by awesomebooksusa
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See more of our deals.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Penelope Fitzgerald
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Bookshop Paperback – Large Print, January 1, 1999

by Penelope Fitzgerald (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 4,528 ratings
See all formats and editions
Follows a kindhearted English widow's struggle to open a bookshop in a seaside town against the polite, but uncompromising opposition of the town's arbiters of culture
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    158 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Thorndike Pr
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    4.25 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0786221674
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0786221677
  8. See all details
Next page
Books with Buzz
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Popular Highlights in this book
What are popular highlights?
Previous page
  1. ‘I don’t know that men are better judges than women,’ said Florence, ‘but they spend much less time regretting their decisions.’
    Highlighted by 170 Kindle readers
  2. ‘Old age is not the same thing as historical interest,’ he said. ‘Otherwise we should both of us be more interesting than we are.’
    Highlighted by 164 Kindle readers
  3. A good book is the precious life-blood of a masterspirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life, and as such it must surely be a necessary commodity.
    Highlighted by 152 Kindle readers
Next page

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thorndike Pr (January 1, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 158 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786221674
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786221677
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 4,528 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Penelope Fitzgerald

Penelope Fitzgerald

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Penelope Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a Booker Prize–winning English novelist, poet, essayist and biographer. In 2008, The Times included her in a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2012, The Observer named her final novel, The Blue Flower, as one of "the ten best historical novels".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
4,528 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Irina HF
5.0 out of 5 stars Understated Potrayal of Real Life
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is probably one of the best, yet criminally underrated, works of literature I have read in a long time. SPOILER ALERT: The synopsis is basic: Widow decides to open bookshop in community that has none. Bookshop struggles, does well briefly, then falls in popularity. High Society Doyenne finds way to evict bookshop lady, and crushes her dream. Sounds pretty bland, right? However, Fitzgerald is one more masterful writer, along with possessing a keen insight into human nature. She also understands how small towns, particularly those of the more isolated variety that the story is set in, tick. The bookshop is received fairly well by some, not so well by others, and on the whole, everybody works, whether consciously or unconsciously, to undermine the bookshop. Penelope Fitzgerald demonstrates that failure in life is not the greatest injustice one can endure; in fact, failure is an incredibly minor happenstance to the greatest injustice in life, which Florence Greene endures. That greatest injustice is living in a community, thinking you have a place in it, and finding out, when the floor vanishes beneath ones' feet, how truly unwanted you are in the place you have called home. This novel definitely doesn't have a happy ending, but it is very satisfying, but also very sad, so keep a box of tissues nearby for the last couple of chapters. I highly recommend this book.
47 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
KBirnley
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written. Just not my cup of tea.
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
read this book for a book club reading challenge. For January we were to pick a book published in the year we were born. According to the Goodreads list I picked it from, this book was published the year I was born.

Keep that in mind when reading my review.

The style of writing and tone are drastically different back then compared to now. From social structures to gender roles, even in Great Britain, it was a very different and sometimes difficult to read.

Although it was very well written, the characters were frustrating and the storyline was so confusing. Well, it was, up until the conclusion. It definitely spiraled quickly and didn’t end as I’d hoped.

All in all, I’m still glad I read it. It was something new. It was out of my norm, and even though I wasn’t really a fan, I still finished it.
Helpful
 Report
Melissa
4.0 out of 5 stars Short, Sweet & Sour
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
It's hard not to root for Florence Green, a war widow who, with no real family or friends to speak of, determines to open a bookshop in her small village of Hardborough in mid-century England. Part of this is, of course, because I'm a reader, and I love books. Bookshops are a place of worship for me. I mean, who WOULDN'T want a bookshop in their quaint little seaside village? I wanted Florence's venture to be a success precisely because of her meager circumstances and the harsh, cold and salty place she inhabits.

The town of Hardborough (I mean "hard" is right there in the name) is filled with many colorful characters, few of whom seem to believe that Florence will make a go of her plan. Though described as rather mousy, her character doesn't hesitate to take on a patronizing bank manager, a smug social matron, the mysterious town hermit or the multiple other village members who contrive to undermine her endeavor. With each small accomplishment -- purchasing the Old House building for her bookshop, cleaning up the property, setting up shop, hiring a young girl for help, making sales, and starting a lending library -- you believe that Mrs. Green can make the bookshop into a life-long occupation.

The trouble in the story all happens when Florence unknowingly purchases property that the town grand dame, Mrs. Gamart, had personally earmarked for a town cultural center. One wonders why, if Mrs. Gamart was so keen on having her arts organization in the place Florence purchased, she didn't do so well before Florence (who had also been living there for years) opened her shop. All of the sudden Mrs. Gamart begins a subtle campaign to undermine Florence, stopping at nothing and stooping to any level to get what she wants.

On the whole, I found the book funny but in that kind of dry, "stiff upper lip" humor that the British are famous for. The humor is peppered through the story in offhanded ways instead of trying to be obvious. One of my laugh-out-loud moments was when Christine Gipping, Mrs. Green's hired help, won the part of Salome in the holiday Nativity Play and got to wear her older sister's bikini while dancing to a song by Lonnie Donegan called "Putting on the Agony, Putting on the Style." Out of curiosity, I looked up the song online. Not sure what your religious education was like, but I surely don't remember the Christmas story ever involving Salome dancing for Herod much less to something as catchy a song from the King of Skiffle. It's in small snippets such as this that Fitzgerald's storytelling really shines, and you can get a deeper sense of her personality beyond writing.

I'm not sure that I didn't like anything about the book, per se, but the book isn't my usual. I didn't care for the ending at all (although it was well written), and so the book lost a star.

Favorite Excerpts
"She had once seen a heron flying across the estuary and trying, while it was on the wing, to swallow an eel which it had caught. The eel, in turn, was struggling to escape from the gullet of the heron and appeared a quarter, a half or occasionally three-quarters of the way out. The indecision expressed by both creatures was pitiable. They had taken on too much."
"She had a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation."
“Old age is not the same thing as historical interest," he said. "Otherwise we should both of us be more interesting than we are."

Rating

When I finished the book, I decided that I did not like it, but after some thought, I realized that the ending, though unsatisfying is aligned with the very best of literary fiction because its effect is to make the reader consider the ending and WHY Florence Green feels as she does at the end. Still, because of the ending and because this particular story was not one I would ever read again or keep on my shelf, I did not give it five stars. Certainly, the writing is engaging. Fitzgerald's ability to conjure a character or setting with the greatest economy of words is exceptional. The characters are unique, and I enjoyed the funny bits.

I should add that I did like the story enough to arrange a Amazon Prime Watch Party for my book club next month in which we will view the screen version of the book with Emily Mortimer (The News Room, Mary Poppins Returns, Our Idiot Brother), Bill Nighy (Hope Gap, About Time, Love Actually), and Patricia Clarkson (Six Feet Under, Sharp Objects, House of Cards).
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Sonoran Skies
2.0 out of 5 stars Really dull with a bad message. The ending put out any interest like a dripping wet towel; dropped from 5 stories high.
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
I can't recommend reading it. I waited for it to get started, really. And before it bothered to get interesting, the ending came like a dripping wet towel; dropped from 5 stories above to put out any interest you might have hoped to acquire.

Here's the synopsis:

Kind people don't put up a fuss. They might put up a small fit here or there. If they do anything other than plod agreeably along; the die.
You're not in control of your life; mean people are. You end up with nothing but shame in the end.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Suze, Washington State
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2019
Verified Purchase
This was a charming book. It was a quick read and one that I will remember. The bookshop should have been a wonderful business to begin in a small town but was not accepted well by most of the members of the community. I enjoy any bookshop or library stories and how well it usually brings everyone together. This book was well written and kept me involved in the drama unfolding....I just wish it had ended differently. I would read more by this author.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Prerna Joshi
5.0 out of 5 stars Literary genius
Reviewed in India on March 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
From cover to content.... Fabulous
Customer image
Prerna Joshi
5.0 out of 5 stars Literary genius
Reviewed in India on March 11, 2024
From cover to content.... Fabulous
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
Report
Lindsay Wincherauk
5.0 out of 5 stars A story about ‘have not’ battling the evils of ‘have.’
Reviewed in Canada on February 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
How did the book make me feel/think?

Florence Green is a lost widow, floundering in a small town, trying to matter. She’s vulnerable. She’s trying to cope. To dig herself out of the doldrums, Florence opens a bookshop to bring hopes + dreams to a town left in the past. Filled with simple people living simple lives. Anytown. Anywhere.

‘It is a good book, and therefore you should try to sell it to the inhabitants of Hardborough. They won’t understand it, but that is all good. Understanding makes the mind lazy.’

Simple is kept simple by those who yield the power—for no reason other than they can. The definition of evil?

These exterminators of hope have no shame.

Florence Green is a lost widow who finds a generational soulmate in a voracious reader—waiting for his inevitable end. He sees passion in Florence’s soul. He tries to protect her from the exterminators.

The Bookshop is a flowing tragedy, where sadly, ‘haves’ exterminate ‘have-nots.’

Bookshop shrewdly mirrors real life, cheering for hopeful failures while at the same time lamenting the inevitability of those holding the cards turning life into a loss for all—for no reason other than they can.

That’s how this book made me feel.

WRITTEN: January 8, 2021
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Jb Favela
4.0 out of 5 stars Una historia conocida, un sueño intentado, un resultado conocido.
Reviewed in Mexico on March 22, 2019
Verified Purchase
Una novela corta, que nos sumerge en un microcosmos harto conocido. Pueblo chico infierno grande. Un lugar dónde todos estamos en boca de todos.
Interesante
Report
GC
5.0 out of 5 stars Une ode au livre
Reviewed in France on May 31, 2019
Verified Purchase
Interessant de lire le livre avant de voir le film
Report
Natalia
5.0 out of 5 stars Gran (y liviana) edición
Reviewed in Spain on January 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
El libro llegó en perfecto estado y correctamente empaquetado. Me gusta que la edición no pesa y es de un tamaño que permite llevar a cualquier parte.
One person found this helpful
 Report