With Love from London
A Novel
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
When a woman inherits her estranged mother’s bookstore in London’s Primrose Hill, she finds herself thrust into the pages of a new story—hers—filled with long-held family secrets, the possibility of new love, and, perhaps, the single greatest challenge of her life.
When Valentina Baker was only eleven years old, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own in California. Now a librarian in her thirties, fresh out of a failed marriage and still at odds with her mother’s abandonment, Val feels disenchanted with her life.
In a bittersweet twist of fate, she receives word that Eloise has died, leaving Val the deed to her mother’s Primrose Hill apartment and the Book Garden, the storied bookshop she opened almost two decades prior. Though the news is devastating, Val jumps at the chance for a new beginning and jets across the Atlantic, hoping to learn who her mother truly was while mourning the relationship they never had.
As Val begins to piece together Eloise’s life in the U.K., she finds herself falling in love with the pastel-colored third-floor flat and the cozy, treasure-filled bookshop, soon realizing that her mother’s life was much more complicated than she ever imagined. When Val stumbles across a series of intriguing notes left in a beloved old novel, she sets out to locate the book’s mysterious former owner, though her efforts are challenged from the start, as is the Book Garden’s future. In order to save the store from financial ruin and preserve her mother’s legacy, she must rally its eccentric staff and journey deep into her mother’s secrets. With Love from London is a story about healing and loss, revealing the emotional, relatable truths about love, family, and forgiveness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jio (All the Flowers in Paris) unfurls an extraordinary and heartfelt tale that will stay with readers long after the final page is turned. When divorced librarian Valentina "Val" Baker inherits a London bookstore from her late estranged mother, Eloise, she leaves Seattle for a fresh start in England. Val has always been told that Eloise abandoned her when she was 12, but as the story—which toggles between Val's present and Eloise's past—evolves, both Val and the reader learn the story she grew up believing was a lie. As a young woman, Eloise was caught in a love triangle and only accepted a proposal from Frank, Val's father, whom she did not love, because she was pregnant. After a miscarriage, the pair had Val, but Frank's jealousy destroyed any chance Val and Eloise had of a relationship. Val discovers this history via a scavenger hunt her mother has set up for her through clues left in all her favorite books—and along the way she finds a love of her own. Jio's expert characterization makes Eloise's heartbreak, sacrifice, and love for her daughter palpable, and her masterful plotting will keep readers guessing until the end. This is sure to tug on readers' heartstrings. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group.
Customer Reviews
Lovely
Nice story. Love the back and forth between eras. Wonderful characters.
Book is exactly like “The Lost Apothecary”
Yes, this book is charming and has a good pace, but the similarities to “The Lost Apothecary” are uncanny—a divorcee goes to London, goes on a search/scavenger hunt for answers to a past mystery and then the other part of the book is told from the POV from someone in the past. Is this the same author? Couldn’t find the connection answer on Google.
Great story!
I found Sarah’s story very fun and engaging. I really enjoyed it!