It’s a real pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for Elodie’s Library of Second Chances by Rebecca Raisin: published by HQ Digital on 4th August, it’s now available as an ebook, paperback and audiobook via Amazon in the UK, US, and Australia. As always, my thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
I’m horrified to see that the last time I read and reviewed one of Rebecca’s books was in 2016 – The Little Bookshop on the Seine, from her Little Paris collection, and I really loved it (you’ll find my review here). Since then, there have been a number of her books that caught my eye, especially Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop with all its wonderful reviews – but I had to look away again because I just couldn’t fit in the reading (it’s a tough life being a blogger…!). So I was delighted when I saw this tour, and could finally plan to read one of her books again – and who doesn’t love a library?
Everyone has a story. You just have to read between the lines…
When Elodie applies for the job of librarian in peaceful Willow Grove, she’s looking forward to a new start. As the daughter of a media empire, her every move has been watched for years, and she longs to work with the thing she loves most: books.
It’s a chance to make a real difference too, because she soon realises that there are other people in Willow Grove who might need a fresh start – like the homeless man everyone walks past without seeing, or the divorcée who can’t seem to escape her former husband’s misdeeds.
Together with local journalist Finn, Elodie decides these people have stories that need sharing. What if instead of borrowing books readers could ‘borrow’ a person, and hear the life stories of those they’ve overlooked?
But Elodie isn’t quite sharing her whole story either. As the story of the library’s new success grows, will her own secret be revealed?
An uplifting story about fresh starts, new beginnings and the power of stories, from the bestselling author of Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop…
This certainly isn’t the first book I’ve read this year about saving an ailing library (and I’ve enjoyed every one…), but there was a real freshness and originality about finding a solution when the usual activities just don’t seem to be working.
After spotting an article in a newspaper, Elodie decides to walk away from her high intensity corporate role in her mother’s media empire to use her almost forgotten librarian qualifications to see if there’s anything she can do to save the small library at Willow Grove, the “happy place” of her childhood. Hiding her true identity, she joins forces with Finn, the local reporter who wrote the article – but no matter what they try (and, it should be said, there are those who aren’t particularly supportive of their efforts), they struggle to bring people through the doors, as time runs out for them to be able to apply for a grant to secure the library’s future. And it soon becomes very clear that it’s not just the library that needs some intervention – the whole community is broken, individuals ostracised or ignored, harmful gossip is rife.
Elodie befriends some of the outsiders – “Homeless Harry” who sleeps in the library porch, eleven-year-old Alfie with his particular needs and total absence of filter, Sofia whose husband’s bad behaviour turned the village against her – and comes up with the idea of allowing them to share their stories, to be “borrowed” by people using the library, to show how wrong it is to judge a book by its cover (or a person by their reputation). The programme’s a real success, as more people join and sometimes sign up to share their own stories – the rifts in the community slowly begin to heal, and Finn and Elodie become ever closer. But they both still have their carefully guarded secrets, and Elodie’s former life starts to call – despite all they’ve achieved together, there really seems very little possibility of a happy ending.
While it’s a lovely and particularly heart-warming story, beautifully told, what I really loved was the people – life’s misfits, special people who have powerful stories to tell, struggling with their lives and the way others ignore or mistreat them. You’ll have your own favourites – I particularly loved young Alfie, and can’t imagine anyone who could fail to do so. I did struggle a little at the beginning though with Elodie herself – it took me a while to warm to her, although it’s evident that her heart is in the right place – but her character became more fully fleshed out as the book progressed, and I began to engage more fully with her background family issues and her relationship with the lovely Finn. There is the loveliest focus throughout on friendship and support, on families and their complications, on the power of stories, on things not always being what they appear and the need to read between the lines.
And it all made this book a particularly enjoyable read – with a rather perfect emotional touch, plenty of gentle humour, and an uncertain outcome that certainly keeps the pages turning. I really enjoyed it – a book I’d thoroughly recommend.
About the author
Rebecca Raisin writes heartwarming romance from her home in sunny Perth, Australia. Her heroines tend to be on the quirky side and her books are usually set in exotic locations so her readers can armchair travel any day of the week. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous heroes who have brains as well as brawn, is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true, once in a lifetime love. Her bestselling novel Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop has been optioned for film with MRC studios and Frolic Media.
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I loved this one, too x
This sounds like a book I’d love!