The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan Blog Tour

 I am a huge fan of Faith Hogan.

Having read some of her previous works, my favourite being The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club, I was rather pleased when I received an advance copy of Hogan's latest novel The Bookshop Ladies. And now here I am, part of the blog tour to celebrate the books release.

Joy Blackwood has no idea why her French art dealer husband has left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, but she is determined to find out. She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Cathal, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful.As Joy gets drawn into the dramas of everyday life in the town, she finds it more and more difficult to confess why she really came, let alone find the truth about the painting she brought with her. When she does finally summon up the courage, it sets the cat amongst the pigeons in the close-knit, friendly community she has come to love.

This was another beautiful read.

I'll be honest, I was instantly won over knowing that the story would somehow involve a bookshop, the book lover in me found this rather pleasing.

However, the story itself gave me an immeasurable amount of joy as I read it.

Like Faith's other novels, this isn't a tale of just one person. She cleverly writes a plot that manages to involve all sorts of endearing characters.

Primarily beginning with Joy, an older woman who has sadly lost her husband. She is now in possession of a very valuable painting that she's recently discovered belongs to Robyn Tessier, her deceased husband's daughter. Someone that she knew nothing about!

Joy now makes the decision to travel to Ireland, specifically Ballycove, where she will not only hand over this one of kind piece of art, but also find out just how the love of her life came to have to have a child with someone else.

Heart-warming.

Just as I expected.

Written with such care and attention. This is a tale of female empowerment. Of unlikely friendships and new beginnings. The surroundings were a huge bonus. I could highly imagine myself visiting Robyn's treasure trove of a shop.

What I've come to enjoy about the author's stories is that they are highly believable and this makes me empathetic/sympathetic to the events and traumas that the characters may be experiencing. They all truly came to life amongst the pages.

A tale that makes us think about the family we choose.

I'm hoping that we'll see more of Joy, Fern and Robyn in a subsequent book, fingers crossed.