Book Review: The Lost for Words Bookshop

I thought the title for this book was curious. If you love books, as the main character does, you obviously love words (the building block of books). So how, I thought, could there be a bookstore called The Lost for Words Bookshop? But, toward the end I began to understand that the main character, despite her love of books and all the elemental words, cannot begin to tell her own story. And I could relate to that, somewhat. I loved the idea within one of the performed poems about changing your story and telling it differently each time you share. Our lives are made up of so many interesting and divergent pieces. Perspectives can shift. Life can appear different than it did before some truth was revealed. The ideas presented brought a kaleidoscope of possibilities, but it was the main character and her quirky voice that fully bowled me over in this book.

Twenty-five-year-old Loveday Cardew has worked at the Lost for Words Bookshop since she was a teenager. It is her primary place of refuge in a threatening and hostile world. She doesn't exactly like people, but she loves providing them with books. In fact, she avoids relationships. Books are far safer, so much so that she bears the first lines of her favorite books in tattoos on her body. Her tattoos and nose-ring might ward off many, but Loveday is about to meet a young man who is drawn in by the whole package, warts and all.

I was enthralled by this quirky protagonist. I loved her spunk and sarcasm. For example, when a female employee begins dating Loveday's former boyfriend, Loveday writes "Maybe she had got wind of him following me, and thought it was all my fault, with my well-known temptress qualities of ignoring people I didn't like and generally not giving a toss." She is hilarious in her self-deprecation. But, in reality, she is - like many of us - just another wounded soul trying to cope with life's circumstances and challenges.

I loved how the author gradually pulled back the veil to reveal what set Loveday running from others and why her soul is so prickly. She may have difficulty telling her story, but it is a story worth hearing. Life might throw curve balls - indeed, we might not get the life we wanted - but something can always be salvaged in the end. And stories matter, even when the words are hard to find.