The Little French Bookshop by Cécile Pivot - Book Review

The Little French Bookshop by Cécile Pivot

Publication Date: 3rd Feb 2022 
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Epistolary 

3.7 Stars 

One Liner: Heartwarming but has nothing to do with the title. 

*****

Esther plans a letter-writing workshop after her father’s death. She and her father loved exchanging letters (handwritten), and Esther wants to experience the same through the workshop. She also plans to offer her copyediting skills to prospective novelists. 

Imagine her surprise when the applicants are everyone else by aspiring writers! From an elderly lady to an angsty teen and a delusional businessman, a total of five people are a part of her workshop. That makes Esther the sixth participant. 

She wants to help them learn how to write better. But what do they want from the workshop? A chance to express themselves? A chance to seek answers? A chance to reconcile and start fresh? 

Esther realizes that her workshop is helping the participants and her in a way she didn’t expect. Letter writing isn’t about writing a letter, is it? 

My Observations: 

• The book takes its own sweet time to progress. (it’s a slow read). The book alters between letters and regular narration (that gives the backstories and more insight into the characters). 
• The letters are arranged in a neat order almost until the end. The slight change at the end is mentioned in the first few pages and makes sense once we get there. 
• Various themes, ranging from postpartum depression to loneliness to social activism, etc., are dealt with. While some are more effective, the others pale in comparison. 
• Each character is distinct and can be identified by the tone of the letter. This is very important when six people are writing letters. 
• The ending is happy, hopeful, and touching. It leaves the reader with a satisfied smile. A couple of issues haven’t been resolved. Guess the author left the issues that way to keep things more realistic. It works in the bigger picture, so no complaints. 
• There are a few hiccups in connecting the letters. It doesn’t always feel smooth and effortless. That said, the character arcs are decent and worth mentioning. My favorites are Samuel and Juliette. 
• The concept of opening up to a stranger via letters was well explored. However, I couldn’t feel the magical touch of letter writing. Maybe it’s because I was reading an electronic copy of the book. Or maybe because there weren’t images of handwritten samples or signatures to give the feeling of reading physical letters. 
• Despite dealing with heavy topics, the book is not a heavy read. It’s both a plus and a minus, depending on the reader. For me, it’s a plus. 

To sum up, The Little French Bookshop is a heartwarming book that deals with quite a few issues. The epistolary style makes it possible to give the topic decent space. However, the title is rather misleading. This isn’t about a bookshop, except that Esther owns a little bookshop in Lille, France. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

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