Bea Babbage would have killed to be any of the ladies sitting neatly in a row in front of her. Eliza Doolittle, Elizabeth Bennet, Rachel Chu, Nancy Drew, Aibileen Clark. Each of these women lived boldly between the pages of the books nestled in the towering oak bookshelves she had come to know so well. Bea still remembered the first time she laid eyes on Cassandra's family's library. Her heart had panged with jealousy, then desire. She'd been desperate to explore its grand oak bookshelves, which spread across every wall and reached up to the high ceiling. And after she and Cassandra became best friends, that's exactly what she did most weekends, until they left their hometown of Dunsborough for university in Perth. It was something else being back in this room after all these years, as Cassandra's maid of honour.
***
Words are messy. Love is messier.
Meet Beatrix Babbage, a 29-year-old dog-earer of books and accidental destroyer of weddings. After ruining her best friend's big day, Bea relocates to the other side of the country in search of a fresh start. But after a few months, life is more stagnant than ever. Bea’s job is dead-end. Her romantic life is non-existent, and her only friends are in her books.
Then Bea stumbles across a second-hand novel inscribed with notes. Besotted with the poetic inscriptions, Bea is determined to find the author . . . and finds herself entangled in one hell of a love quadrangle.
***
Bea was a delightful character to meet. She is funny, quirky and a little bit obsessive, and this book was good fun to read. I could identify with her determination to identify the author of the notes in her book, and even more so, her love of books. Neither did I work out who the writer of the notes was although I was partly in the right area.
I enjoyed immersing myself in the Australian setting and in meeting the people who were part of Bea's world. I thought the notes which went back and forth between her and her cleaner were delightful.
This light hearted and fun read would make an ideal holiday or weekend read. I borrowed it from the library, and I am keen to now read their earlier novel, Book Ninja. I feel another trip to the library coming up.
I adore books which are about books and this one hit the nail very firmly on the head.
It has been co-authored, and I am very curious as to the logistics of how they have accomplished this. Perhaps that is a question for another blog post?
ISBN: 978 1471178009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Formats: e-book and paperback
No. of Pages: 384 (paperback)
Ali and Michelle are Co-authors, founders of Books on the Rail, professional Book Ninjas and best friends since they ditched play time for writing club in primary school.
Their first two novels, The Book Ninja (2018) and While You Were Reading (2019) have been published and enjoyed around the world, and The Book Ninja has been optioned to be made into a film. Their third novel Fancy Meeting You Here was released in December 2021 and is available as an audio book in the UK.
When they are not writing books, Ali is a copywriter and Michelle is a primary school teacher. They both live in Melbourne with their respective families and colour-coordinated bookshelves.
(author photo and bio. information from the authors websitehttps://aliandmichelle.com/)
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