The Bookstore Sisters - Alice Hoffman

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AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Short Story
RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A good story but not memorable.

Isabel Gibson lives an independent life in New York, having severed her connection with her childhood home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Her parents are long dead, she hasn’t spoken to her sister in more than a decade, and her family-run bookstore is probably already closed down. But when she receives a mysterious letter one day with just one word written in it, she feels the tug of her old home calling her back.

In many ways, this is like a Hallmark movie – the successful city girl discovers the true joy of home and family when she returns to her small hometown. The only difference is that instead of finding her one true love, Isabel ends up connecting with her one true family. The story is predictable and holds no surprises at all. There are some nice themes such as relationships and open communication. There is also a cute dog and a spunky tween.

What would have made the story better for me were two factors:

1. As the title stresses on the bookstore, I would have loved for it to play a bigger role in the proceedings. But the store is just in the background, with the primary focus being on the sisters.

2. 2. From Alice Hoffman, I would expect a little dash of magic in the book. I have no idea why some readers have slotted this on their ‘fantasy’ shelves, because there is nothing fantastical in the story.

If you want to try a Hoffman short story, I’d recommend ‘Everything My Mother Taught Me’. This one is just about okay in comparison, though it isn’t bad on the whole.

The story is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

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