The bleakness of the landscape, the murky undercurrents and the lack of imagination exhibited by the inhabitants of Hardborough. There is a bleakness about this story which may be off putting. From the bullying Mrs Gamart, to the insightful, sympathetic Mr Brandish they all help the reader understand Florence better her defiance, her determination and her eventual acquiescence. We are gradually introduced to them in turn. Each character has a particular place and function and none are superfluous to the story. ‘You won’t have to worry about anything like that with me she added. In fact, she’d just seen their bikes stashed under the bracken by the crossroads.

She wore a pari of jeans and a pink cardigan worked in a fancy stitch…….’You’re Christine Gipping aren’t you? I had rather thought that your elder sister….’Ĭhristine replied that now the evenings were getting longer her elder sister would be up in the bracken with Charlie Cutts. “At teatime next day a little girl of ten years old, very pale, very thin and remarkably fair, presented herself at the Old House.

Christine and Florence strike up an unlikely and ultimately protective partnership. However she has a natural affinity to organisation and is in many ways mature beyond her years. Christine dislikes books, in fact she only reads The Bunty. To help her with the day to day running of the shop Florence takes on 10 1/2 year old Christine. “The town itself was an island between sea and river, muttering and drawing into itself as soon as it felt the cold” The insular nature of Hardborough is summed up perfectly here. She is met with open opposition and finds herself in a quiet tug of war with the local residents as she attempts to establish the shop as part of the fabric of the town.

It was first published in 1978 when it was nominated for the Booker prize and continues to feel fresh and relevant 37 years later.Įssentially this is the story of Florence Green and her attempt to open a book shop in the inward looking East Anglian Coastal town of Hardborough. This is a brief 156 page novel (perhaps that makes it a novella?) packed full of good things. Other than being aware of the author’s name I confess complete ignorance to Penelope Fitzgerald prior to reading this gloriously understated little book. I picked up this attractive book in a recent visit to a second hand bookshop.

The bookshop penelope fitzgerald review