It’s such a pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour for the latest book from Eva Glyn, The Dubrovnik Book Club, and sharing my review. Published as an ebook and audiobook by One More Chapter on 8th March, it’s now available as a paperback too – via your local bookshop, or through major retailers (and on all main ebook platforms) in the UK and US. Or you might like to try to win a copy, and you’ll find the link below my review – and doesn’t it deserve a place on your bookshelves for that beautiful cover alone? My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
You might already know that I’ve read, enjoyed, and reviewed every book Eva Glyn (and her alter ego, Jane Cable) has ever written, and I’ll spare you the usual introduction (that sometimes becomes even longer than my review…) where I tell you about every one. If you’d like to read some of my earlier reviews, just pop her name into the search bar on the right hand side of the page and you’ll find every one. But I will mention my most recent favourite, The Collaborator’s Daughter, one of my Books of the Year in 2023 (you’ll find my full review here) – a gentle love story set in a vividly drawn Dubrovnik, but with a powerful wartime story that slowly unfolds as Fran uncovers the truth about her birth father’s death, and a moving exploration of the enduring impact of the more recent Balkan conflict on those who survived. And for her latest book, we’re back in Dubrovnik – but although there are some familiar characters, I could see this was a quite different book, and very much a contemporary story.
Let’s take a closer look…
In a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, a book club begins…
Newly arrived on the sun-drenched shores of Croatia, Claire Thomson’s life is about to change forever when she starts working at a local bookshop. With her cousin Vedran, employee Luna and Karmela, a professor, they form an unlikely book club.
But when their first book club pick – an engrossing cosy crime – inspires them to embark upon an investigation that is close to the group’s heart, they quickly learn the value of keeping their new-found friends close as lives and stories begin to entwine…
My goodness, I really loved this book. I often find it quite difficult to explain what turns a book I enjoy into one I really love – in future, I think I might just direct people to this one, as I can’t think of a better example of the kind of writing that makes a book something very special indeed.
Claire is in Dubrovnik in the wake of the Covid pandemic, having been severely ill and still particularly fearful of close contact with others – something I suspect many of us wouldn’t find it too difficult to identify with – but some considerable bravery is called for when her grandmother, who she’s staying with, finds her a dream job managing a small bookshop in the old town. There’s one other member of staff, Luna – and as well as sharing Claire’s passion for books, she’s in the throes of coming to terms with her sexuality, hoping that the city will prove more open-minded than her former island home. Then there’s Claire’s lawyer cousin Vedran – struggling with shame and guilt, both perhaps misplaced, hiding away from the world after being accused of involvement in the disappearance and possible death of his girlfriend. And when Claire and Luna start a book club to help bring customers through their door, they meet Karmela – a self-contained and rather spiky professor, who begins to lower her defences and slowly unfold, and has her own complex and fascinating background story.
Their friendship develops as they get together for their book club meetings – each book carefully chosen, cleverly reflecting aspects of their personal stories – with the narrative driven by their joint efforts both to clear Vedran’s name and to prevent the closure and sale of the book shop that comes to mean so much to them all for their own different reasons. It’s a superb ensemble piece, with the very real individuals managing their own personal struggles, each of them damaged in different ways, needing the support of others, gradually taking their opportunities to make changes in their lives – emotionally authentic in every way, sometimes surprising, often very moving, but all with a perfect lightness of touch.
But, however engaging, that’s really just the bare bones of the story – the challenges the individuals are facing allow the exploration of far larger themes, many serious, some unexpected, often complex, and all perfectly judged and so very sensitively handled. And what particularly impressed me was how naturally those wider themes became very much part of the story – the book does deal wonderfully with friendship and family, along with some gentle romance along the way and a real feeling for the healing power of reading, but it’s really so much more than that.
As always, the author’s love for her setting shines through in every description of Dubrovnik’s streets and buildings, meticulously researched and rich in detail – the whole book has an exceptional sense of place, and a real feel for the culture and history. And I have to say that the author’s writing has never been better – the storytelling is just wonderful, and this was a book that most certainly entertained, gave me plenty to think about, but also made me feel particularly deeply for its characters. Her best so far? Absolutely, and a book I’d highly recommend everyone adds to their reading list – might I have mentioned already that I really loved it?
Giveaway
With thanks to Eva and Rachel, I’m delighted to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a paperback copy of The Dubrovnik Book Club (open internationally). Here’s the rafflecopter for entry:
Terms and Conditions
Worldwide entries welcome. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
About the author
Eva Glyn fell in love with Croatia during her first holiday there in 2019; the incredible scenery, the delicious food, the country’s dramatic twentieth century history all played their part, but most of all it was the friendliness of the people.
One of these was tour director Darko Barisic, who told an incredible story about growing up in underground shelters during the war in the 1990s, and she knew she had to write a book around his experiences. This became her first Croatian novel, The Olive Grove, and she and Darko have become good friends and he continues to advise her on all aspects of Croatia.
Eva delves into Croatian history and everyday life for her inspiration, and visits the country as often as she can, having uncovered so many stories by talking to local people. Travel in general is her passion, followed closely by food and wine, which also find their way between her pages.
Although Welsh by birth she now lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with almost thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.
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