‘Happiness had never been something she’d looked for. A quiet day with no insults or wallops, that was the best she could imagine.’ Kate Goss lives in a dark, freezing cold garret, despised and bullied by her aunt and cousins after the death of her mother. She dreams of being rescued by her handsome father, who she only dimly remembers. No one quite knows where he is, or what he is doing, just … he is doing, just that he is sure to come back a rich man.
By the time Kate is seventeen, she is tough and hardened. When her aunt throws her out on to the streets of south London, she answers an advert for a cleaner in the Bermondsey Bookshop and Reading Room, founded by a wealthy woman who dreams of bringing literature to the poor.
Here she will find a world she never knew existed. But for Kate, trouble is never far away and long-held secrets are about to burst into the open and ensnare her in a web of lies and violence. Can she ever escape? And will the man she has begun to love still be there if she does?
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The Bermondsey Bookshop by Mary Gibson is an intriguing historical novel. I found it to be well-written that moved along at a thoughtful pace and it has a strong female protagonist. Kate Goss had a loving mother until she had an accident coming down the steep garret stairs. Archie Goss, Kate’s father, deposited Kate with his sister, Sylvie and then departed. Sylvie did not like Kate’s Romany mother, Bessie which she takes out on Kate. Her cousins, Janey and Stan are just as mean and spiteful. Kate holds out the hope that her father will return one day and take her away. Kate is a spirited girl who works hard. She makes some unfortunate choices, but Kate also makes some memorable friends. We get to see Kate go from a teenager to an adult. I could feel Kate’s struggles and her sadness. Of course, Kate had some unforgettable moments as well. There were a variety of interesting characters in The Bermondsey Bookshop. There were some kindhearted souls and some truly terrible people. I especially liked the various people that frequented the Bermondsey Bookshop. It was interesting reading about the Bermondsey Bookshop (it was a real place). It was open for hours that suited the working class and offered a variety of classes (reading, elocution, French, drama) as well as lectures. After reading this book, I searched out more information on this unique bookshop. I thought Mary Gibson captured the accents of the people along with their attitudes especially when it came to education and money. Children were not allowed to enjoy their childhood for long. They were expected to go to work and turn over their wages. There is some mild foul language along with violence (parents or relatives hitting children, men beating their wives, men wanting certain “favors”) which was, unfortunately, typical of the time period. The Bermondsey Bookshop is a book that will have you reading long into the night to find out how Kate’s story ends. The Bermondsey Bookshop has a sharp tongued shrew, a conniving cousin, a fetid factory, a vanished father, and one feisty female.
I was disappointed that the title of the book had little to do with the actual story. I’m not a fan of romance books, but there were other aspects of the book that made up for the fact it was part of the romance genre. The details of status of class in the Victorian era along with the mystery helped my view of the book. The characters are not that well developed and more depth would have been a positive aspect.
Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
The Bermondsey Bookshop by Mary Gibson is an intriguing tale of life in the tenements of London in the 1920s. Her father in the care of her aunt, following her mother’s death, has left Kate. Her father had gone off to war and then to seek his fortune. She dreamed daily of his return. Her life was horrible. The description of life in Bermondsey for most of the people there was absolutely miserable. It was worse for Kate. This was a tough book to get into. It took about halfway to really start enjoying the read. This was partially due to the minimal dialogue that made it slower going. It did set the rest of the book up well, though, so it was worth it.
Kate lived in abject poverty, made worse by the fact that her aunt hated her and allowed her to cousins to treat her miserably. Eventually, at about 12, Kate was pulled out of school and sent to work in a tin factory. She was successful there: she worked hard and was thrilled to be away from the family so many hours a day. Her aunt even allowed her to keep a miniscule amount of her weekly pay. Things got so bad at some that several years later her aunt kicked her out and she had to make it on her own. She barely kept her head above water and then came layoffs for the summer. Presumably she would be called back in the fall, but until then she needed work. She found several jobs, cleaning. One was at a pub and one was at the Bermondsey Bookshop. There she found friends and the kind of people she didn’t even know existed. By the time she was eighteen, she had a beau, and a couple of new items of clothing. Things were looking up. They stayed that way for a while, with lots of twists and turns in her life. It became a very interesting read. I enjoyed it, although if I had not committed to review it, I am not sure I would have kept reading. I recommend it with reservations.
I received a free ARC of The Bermondsey Bookshop from Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #thebermondseybookshop
Really enjoyed this one and discovered a new author I like.
Based around a real bookshop that was founded by Ethel Gutman in 1921 London, it was established with the idea of providing a place for the working-class to learn to read, buy books on an installment plan, stage classical plays, learn other languages, etc.
This is the fictional story of Kate Goss, a young woman who struggled against poverty, hunger and a cruel family and its secrets. While depressing at times, it is ultimately a story of overcoming obstacles and becoming one’s own person rather than a reflection of one’s family or circumstances.
Good character development and plot. My only con? Wish it hadn’t wrapped up so quickly…I felt the ending needed an epilogue.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #HeadofZeus for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
Out 2/6
This was my first book by this author, so I had no idea what to expect.
I love Kate of a character. She didn’t let anything or anyone crush her spirit and she did what she needed to survive. Even if that meant working himself to the bone. Her pleasures are simple. The story paint a grim tale of the London East End in the twenties. No roaring twenties in that neighbourhood, but there is a big difference in class. Kate her curiosity made me laugh.
I loved the Bookshop and how it changed Kate’s life, but I would have like more scene or focus of the story on the Bookshop.
For me there was to much else going on which made the story drag at places.