Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2018
368 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.
Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. She doesn't hear about him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy, and one final scavenger hunt.
When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books - now as its owner - she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store's shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy's last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy's past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda's mother has kept hidden - and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.
Bighearted and trenchantly observant, The Bookshop of Yesterdays is a lyrical story of family, love and the healing power of community. It's a love letter to reading and bookstores, and a testament to how our histories shape who we become.
"Filled with quotes from and allusions to The Tempest, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Jane Eyre, Meyerson's evocative novel is a fun homage to book lovers and the eclectic spirit of L.A." - Publishers Weekly
"Meyerson's debut is a sweet read filled with family, love, and healing. Readers who enjoy Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber will be charmed by this tale of self-discovery and new beginnings." - Library Journal
"Meyerson writes beautifully, with lush descriptions of LA and believable interactions between characters... A lovely look at loss, family, and the comfort found in a good bookstore." - Kirkus
"Terrifically fun… Part riddle, part mystery, part family drama, part a bookstore lover's dream, and then more." - Aimee Bender, New York Times bestselling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
"[Meyerson's] affection for all things literary pours forth on every page and through a cast of characters every book lover will embrace." - Charlie Lovett, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookman's Tale
"This delightful, propulsive debut is part cozy literary mystery, part family drama, and 100% heart. [A] page-turner in the best sense." - J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest
"I was hooked from the start…. An homage to books - to the pleasures they can bring, and the loving connections they can conjure." - Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
"Captivates with its emotional honesty, fully realized characters, and precision of detail…Meyerson is a writer to watch." - Diane McKinney-Whetstone, bestselling author of Tumbling and Lazaretto
"A heartfelt triumph! This suspenseful scavenger hunt will keep the pages turning late at night." - Suzanne Rindell, author of Eagle & Crane and The Other Typist
"[A] charming novel, full of passion and suspense." - Judith Freeman, author of The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved
"The best kind of hybrid - part mystery, part romance, part family drama. I devoured it!" - Emily Jeanne Miller, author of The News from the End of the World
This information about The Bookshop of Yesterdays was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amy Meyerson teaches in the writing department at the University of Southern California, where she completed her graduate work in creative writing. She has been published in Reed Magazine, The Manhattanville Review, The Bloomsbury Review, The Fanzine and Obit Magazine, and was a finalist in Open City's RRofihe Trophy Short Story Contest and in Summer Literary Seminars's Unified Literary Contest. She currently lives in Los Angeles. The Bookshop of Yesterdays is her first novel.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
