MISS MARY'S BOOK OF DREAMS by SOPHIE NICHOLLS.
Ella runs Happily Ever After, a bookshop nestled in the cobbled streets of York.
She's a wife, a mother and a successful novelist. But something is missing . . .
One day a strange girl comes into Ella's shop. Bryony is shy and unsure, and Ella feels a strange connection to her.
With the help of one very special Book - and a little touch of magic - can these women help each other find the fairy tale endings they've been searching for?
With the help of one very special Book - and a little touch of magic - can these women help each other find the fairy tale endings they've been searching for?
- Back Cover Blurb
A pair of leopard print shoes, size 37.
- First Sentence, Prologue
For my Memorable Moment please read My Thoughts below.
SOURCE ... A charity shop buy.
READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.
MY THOUGHTS ...
To keep harmony at home: Grow cornflowers, delphiniums and bluebells close to your house. Dry the blue blossoms and sprinkle them discreetly in the corners of every room. You may also take one hair from the head of each person in the family, braid the hairs together and bind the ends with a blue silk thread. (Ch. 16)
For me personally by far the best part of this book were the advice/spells from Miss Mary's Book Of Dreams (such as that above) which head every chapter. It's just a shame that the contents of that chapter didn't somehow tie in with this.
Overall a delightful book that I did enjoy. As seems popular at the moment, the topic of mental health did raise its head; the author dealing with it sensitively and with some understanding. However ...
Having read the book before I realised it was actually part two of what I believe to be a trilogy, whilst certain characters/elements of the story where fleshed out enough so that I could make sense of them, there were characters/events that, only alluded to here, at the time had me rubbing my head; wondering had I missed something, had I perhaps turned more than one page, when, no, I simply hadn't read the previous book when presumably these things were dealt with.
Having read the book before I realised it was actually part two of what I believe to be a trilogy, whilst certain characters/elements of the story where fleshed out enough so that I could make sense of them, there were characters/events that, only alluded to here, at the time had me rubbing my head; wondering had I missed something, had I perhaps turned more than one page, when, no, I simply hadn't read the previous book when presumably these things were dealt with.
That said, taken as an individual read rather than as part of a series, I felt I would have enjoyed the book even more if it weren't for the fact that the author tried to thread three separate stories together.
Three stories that albeit connected by the 'magical' element, for me personally, read more like a set of short stories than a novel. Not something I tend to favour and alas, in this instance, meant I had difficulty connecting characters and events.
