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    The Printed Letter Bookshop
    The Printed Letter Bookshop
    The Printed Letter Bookshop
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Printed Letter Bookshop

    Written by Katherine Reay

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Books. Love. Friendship. Second chances. All can be found at the Printed Letter Bookshop in the small, charming town of Winsome.

    One of Madeline Cullen’s happiest childhood memories is of working with her Aunt Maddie in the quaint and cozy Printed Letter Bookshop. But by the time Madeline inherits the shop nearly twenty years later, family troubles and her own bitter losses have hardened Madeline’s heart toward her once-treasured aunt—and the now struggling bookshop left in her care.

    While Madeline intends to sell the shop as quickly as possible, the Printed Letter’s two employees have other ideas. Reeling from a recent divorce, Janet finds sanctuary within the books and the decadent window displays she creates. Claire, though quieter than her outspoken colleague, feels equally drawn to the daily rhythms of the shop and has found a renewed sense of purpose within its walls.

    When Madeline’s professional life falls apart, and a handsome gardener upends her life, she questions her plans and her future. Has she been too quick to dismiss her aunt’s beloved shop? And even if she has, the women’s best efforts to save it may be too little, too late.

    • Sweet contemporary romance for book lovers
    • Stand-alone novel
    • Book length: 98,000 words
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateMay 14, 2019
    ISBN9780785222033
    The Printed Letter Bookshop
    Author

    Katherine Reay

    Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author who has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books. She publishes both fiction and nonfiction, holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and three children. You can meet her at katherinereay.com; Facebook: @KatherineReayBooks; Twitter: @katherine_reay; Instagram: @katherinereay.

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    Reviews for The Printed Letter Bookshop

    4/5

    152 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Just a really lovely, well written book with the uncanny authentic point of view of three generations, and a main character we never meet but get to know and love.
    • 5/5
      Three very different women with different experiences are thrown together because of Maggie and her very special bookstore.
      A perfect Sunday book
    • 4/5
      I loved the book! So many emotions throughout. Author was new to me and I will read more of her talented writing.
    • 5/5
      I found this story a delight! Really enjoyed the characters. It made for a wonderful Sunday afternoon!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! "That’s what books do, Maddie used to say; they are a conversation, and introduce us to ourselves and to others." Madeline (Maddie for short) Cullen Carter and her husband Pete were owners of "The Printed Letter Bookshop" and Maddie continued her ownership of the bookshop even after she became too ill to even visit the shop. "That’s what they called it, a bookshop, not a bookstore. 'It’s more intimate, more friendly and communal,' Aunt Maddie said. But now family, friends, and the community of Winsome are mourning Maddie's death. Maddie's niece, Madeline, an attorney in Chicago is working tirelessly especially as she's competing with a coworker and ex-boyfriend for a partnership in the law firm. She's stunned at the contents of her aunt's will and especially the burden of not only a home but the bookshop that must be sold as her aunt died in debt.Did I mention I loved this book? Sale of the bookstore will impact Claire and Janet the most as they comprise the staff at the bookshop and the bookshop plays a significant part in each of their lives. How can they possibly think of the potential sale and/or closure of the shop in the midst of their grief in the loss of their friend Maddie. Aunt Maddie leaves an envelope for Madeline, Claire, and Janet with "a short note, a long list of books, and a quotation from the book of Proverbs in the Bible." Is this a beginning or an ending?There is a beauty and love unlike any other when women with different backgrounds, different ages, different life perspectives, and at different points in their lives find friendship together. This novel is a love letter to books but it is also a love letter in celebration of the friendship of women. I wish I could visit this bookshop. I'd love to talk to Madeline, Claire, and Janet individually and before coming home together. I know they'd share more wisdom and I'd love to hear their book recommendations after our conversations. I know I wouldn't return home empty-handed.p.s. Don't miss "For the love of books . . . (A note from the author)" at the end of the novel.
    • 4/5
      Charming story of three women finding themselves in a bookshop.
    • 4/5
      What better setting can there be for a book lover than a book that takes place in a bookstore? Printed Letter Bookshop is about a niece that inherits her aunts bookstore after she passes away, but she has not had any contact with her aunt in years. Madeline gives up her corporate career as an attorney to take on this struggling bookshop that her aunt and the community loved so much. Not only does Madeline inherit the adorable bookstore, but she also inherits the complex lives of the employees who work in it. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their quirks and struggles. Dialogue was fabulous and I appreciated the author delving into the issues of family dynamics, family secrets, forgiveness, reconciliation, finding your purpose, etc. This was the first book I read by Katherine Reay, but it will definitely not be the last.I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
    • 3/5
      I'm a sucker for novels that take place in bookstores, but while this will definitely appeal to lovers of chick lit, it was too predictable for my tastes. I loved the description of the bookstore in question, a small town gem beloved by residents. When the equally-beloved owner dies, she leaves the store to her semi-estranged niece, an attorney vying for a vacant partnership at her prestigious firm in nearby Chicago. She walks into a situation for which she's ill-prepared, especially for the suspicion of the bookstore's employees, who don't understand the bequest because the niece never visited her aunt because of family issues Of course, the aunt knew best and you can rather guess there's a happy ending. A pleasant read but not a literary one.
    • 4/5
      A story about cross-age friendship and forgiveness, about three different women working together in a bookshop. Madeline is in her thirties, a lawyer hoping for promotion; she’s inherited the bookshop from her Aunt Maddie. Janet is angry that Madeline never visited when Maddie was ill. Janet’s angry about lots of things -- she has an ex husband, adult children who rarely speak to her and old friends she wants to avoid. In the middle is Claire, who is aware of the shop’s precarious finances. She’s trying to juggle work with motherhood -- her husband is often away, her teenager daughter is moody and Claire is still trying to make friends in this town. I’d nearly finished the book when I noticed something on the copyright page: this is classified as “Christian fiction”. (I don’t know if I would have noticed otherwise. Sometimes mainstream fiction includes references to things like Bible verses and prayer, especially older fiction.) Perhaps this book isn’t very overt about it, but upon reflection, it’s quite implicitly Christian because of the ways in which it is very much about forgiveness. Which I really liked. (I’d like to read more Christian fiction, it’s just a case of finding out about books I’d like and then actually finding those books.)I also really liked how all three women have messy, complicated relationships and that not all of them have tidy resolutions. (I think it would have been even better had there been fewer tidy resolutions.)I’m not sold on the way the narrative is structured. While it’s very fitting that Janet’s sections are written in first-person present tense and Claire’s are in third-person, switching back and forth is a bit jarring. And I’m not sure that the approach did justice to Claire’s story, which felt a lot less intensely personal than Madeline’s or Janet’s.So, not perfect, and there definitely could have been more about the books they read, but it surprised me.
    • 5/5
      Madeline has inherited her aunt's bookshop. She must decide what to do now that she lost the partnership at her law firm. Since her resignation was accepted, she goes to a small town 40 miles from Chicago to work at the bookshop until it is sold. She is wary and unsure and maintains a distance from her employees Janet and Claire who are reserved with her also. Slowly working together daily they discover each other and, more importantly, they each discover themselves.I loved this book and the three points-of-view to the story. It is interesting to watch the women develop a friendship while learning who they are thanks to Aunt Maddie's letters. Janet becomes softer. Claire develops a backbone. Madeline learns the truth and has to reconcile it what she thought she knew. Along the way they help and hinder each other but learn to forgive and trust and love. They also learn what is important and it changes who they are and what they want from life. This was a book I did not want to end. I want these characters as friends and I want an Aunt Maddie.
    • 5/5
      Really appreciated the change of reading pace this represented. In tone rather than plot, reading this reminded me of one of those holiday movies on the Hallmark channel. It's warm, genuine, and slow unspooling of the story of three women (two longtime bookshop employees and their new owner who inherits the store after a death in her family) who start out as strangers, potential rivals even, and end up somewhere else. Each of the women is, in her own way, both emotionally and relationally wounded and you also come to know not just them, but their partners and families.It is not an action-driven book, but I found myself slowly coming to love these women and by the end, I felt like I was leaving actual friends. Recommended. Who knew this would become one of my favorite reads this year?
    • 4/5
      Madeline is on track to be a partner at the law firm where she competes with others with that same desire. Her plans to be a partner in a law firm are turned asunder when she inherits her aunt’s bookshop and home. Her first thought is to sell the properties, but after she is there in the shop and works with the two employees who had been hired by her aunt, she begins to rethink her plans and her career path. However, the more she delves into her aunt’s estate, the more problems she uncovers. This novel has engaging but flawed characters who must make choices and decisions that will change their lives and those around them. This thoughtful tale is one that, while entertaining, illustrates that with choices come consequences, and sometimes, you need to give help even while you are being helped by others.
    • 4/5
      The Printed Letter Bookshop is a story told through the lives of four women; 3 living and one who has died. The chapters alternated between the voices of the three living women; Janet and Claire who work in the titular bookshop and Madeleine, the niece of the owner. Well the deceased owner – Maddie is the fourth woman but she has died and left her bookshop and house to her niece whom she hasn’t seen in about 16 years.Madeleine is a lawyer working in the city and can’t imagine why her aunt left her the bookshop. Janet and Claire have complicated family lives and also know that the bookshop is not financially stable so they fear its sale by the new owner. They soldier on though, hoping that all can remain the same.Madeleine has an upset at work so she heads to the small town where the bookshop is located to see what is like and how sale-able it might be. While there she learns that her aunt was much beloved in the community but she was not the best businesswoman. She starts to learn the business and she gets to know the women running the shop and the enigmatic landscaper who helped to care for her aunt in her last days. The longer she stays the more she realizes that her aunt might have known her better than she knew herself.Each chapter focuses on a different woman and her life as it advances the plot. Little tidbits of their lives are parceled out so the reader is always thinking about the interrelationships. None of the women seem to think they need any help or support but of course they really need each other. Maddie, although dead, still plays a vital role in the story as her legacy and her love is what is still binding them all together. Each one learns to love, forgive and trust not just the others but in herself. It is a story about finding love and not just the romantic kind although there is some of that too.Overall a very satisfying, quick read that made my afternoon go by. I’d be happy to visit this bookshop
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed my time getting to know the three women featured in this book. They all came from different backgrounds, but they had more in common than they knew. I felt like I spent everyday at the bookstore as customers came in, browsed, read and made friends. The bookstore is the focal point of the story as rumors abound that the new owner will sale. Madeline is very smart and loyal which has caused her to lose touch with her Aunt Maddie. What a shock she had when her aunt's will was read. The timing could not have been more perfect since it was time for a change of scenery for Madeline. What does a respected lawyer do when she inherits a bookstore? The beauty of this story is getting to know each character and watch them struggle, feel remorse, look for forgiveness and find themselves.I loved all the books mentioned in the story and the list of books each woman receives from Maddie. They don't understand the list at first, but Maddie knew just what each one needed to read. I would love to have an Aunt Maddie in my life. She was the glue that held this story together. She touched so many lives and gave her time and wisdom unconditionally.Janet is unsure of herself and my heart broke for her as she longingly wanted to be part of her grandchild's life. There seems to be a theme going throughout the book of bitterness and pride in families . Janet loves working at the bookstore and finds peace there. I think she was looking for acceptance and longed to feel needed.Claire was easy to relate to for me. She seems to feel like a failure when it comes to her teenage daughter. it is hard for them to connect with Claire working at the bookstore and Brittany pulling away from her guidance. There will be a crisis that will have Claire examining her purpose and wanting to protect her daughter.The story is easy to read and I loved watching each woman grow, depend on each other and watch their dreams blossom. There are times when Madeline isn't sure she can save the store and wonders why her aunt left it to her. It was wonderful to see how each woman discovers something about themselves and how they grow as friends. Come join them as they find true friendship and trust in a bookstore.I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.
    • 3/5
      Independent bookstores are, as a rule, wonderful and magical places. They're all different, but no matter how different, they generally evoke a similar feeling in the readers who love them. They are a refuge, a home, a quieting. The people who work in them have to love them too, but in a different way than the readers who wander in to visit and browse and buy. The owners and employees see behind the welcome to the stresses that accompany any business: the costs, the work, and the balancing act that is stocking the store. Katherine Reay's newest novel, set in the fictional Printed Letter Bookshop, shows the magic and importance of the small bookshop in the hearts and lives of the women who work there.Madeline Cullen is up for partner at her high powered legal firm when her Aunt Maddie dies of cancer. Madeline had spent one wonderful summer working with her Aunt Maddie in the Printed Letter Bookshop before a rift between her father and her aunt caused her to lose touch with Maddie. But Maddie never forgot her beloved niece, leaving the bookshop and all its inventory to Madeline. Despite her good memories, Madeline is certain she will sell the store and its contents because her life is on a different track, at least until life deals her another blow. The idea of selling the store devastates the store's two employees, good friends of Maddie's, Janet and Claire. Both of them are struggling emotionally and the store and their jobs in it are their touchstones, ones they desperately want to hold onto, even if it means cooperating with the niece who, to their minds, abandoned her aunt, their dear friend. And as the women open up to each other, coming together to try to pull the store out of the red, each of them starts to heal in her own way from the emotional hurt that is holding her down.The novel is told in alternating perspectives from all three women. Madeline and Janet tell their own stories in first person while Claire's is told in the third person. The revolving narratives allow the reader to see the evolution of the three women's friendship, their misunderstandings, their fears, and what motivates their actions, as well as the things they keep private from each other, especially in the beginning. The bookshop gives each of them the chance to start over again, for Madeline to come to terms with her lack of passion for the law and her desire for a settled home, for Janet to acknowledge and accept from the fallout and unhappiness after a divorce she herself precipitated, and for Claire to adjust to and push back at being shut out of her teenage daughter's life and the loneliness of a marriage with a constantly traveling husband. The beginning of the novel is a little difficult to get into, each of the characters coming across as standoffish not only to each other but also the reader, and several of the later plot twists are entirely predictable but Madeline, Janet, and Claire's growing relationship is well done and the book succeeds as a cozy, gentle read about renewal, forgiveness, and second chances.
    • 5/5
      What a great and enjoyable read, one that keeps you wondering to the end. A judgement as a child, and then carrying those choices into adulthood, and then affecting your relationships with family.The death of a beloved member of this small Illinois town, and those that loved and cherished her, are the heart of this story. While the book does revolve around a book store, Maddie even though she is no longer here, is there for those she loved, and the chosen books for them to read, she is leading.All the while I was wondering what was going to happen to these women when the store closed, amazing things go on and most you won’t see coming.A story that will make you laugh and cry and search for answers, a book of life and love.I received this book through Celebrate Lit, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 5/5
      This was a very enjoyable story. I loved the way it took place in a bookstore. The characters were so real. I laughed and cried with each character. This book showed how we all need to communicate with each other better. I was glad with the way the story progressed. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
    • 3/5
      The Printed Letter Bookshop is told from Claire, Janet and Madeline’s point-of-views. Each woman is struggling and a letter from Maddie along with a book list acts as a guide. As the story progresses, we find out what has happened to each woman, how Maddie entered their lives and how the bookshop made a difference. The story is nicely written with mild pacing. I was not immediately drawn into the story. It became more interesting the further I progressed into The Printed Letter Bookshop. The at first unlikeable characters began to grow on me, and I like seeming them come together. The ending is smile worthy. The descriptions of Janet’s window displays and artwork were enchanting (I wish this was my local bookstore). I enjoyed the numerous book references (bibliophiles will be thrilled) and quotes. Aunt Maddie’s description of The Secret Garden was delightful. There are two quotes I want to share with you. The first is “. . . you could lose yourself in a book and, paradoxically, find yourself as well” (very true). The second one made me laugh out loud “my hot flashes last longer than that service”. The Printed Letter Bookshop is for those readers who love all types of books, Hallmark movies and happy endings.
    • 5/5
      I’m glad I can still say that I have yet to be disappointed by a Katherine Reay novel. The Printed Letter Bookshop is a delightful read, and despite obvious similarities to The Secrets of Paper and Ink (which I read and loved earlier this year), it’s a story wholly worth reading.When the owner of the Printed Letter Bookshop dies, the lives of three women—Madeline, Janet, and Claire—upend in life-changing ways. Madeline’s plans for her life didn’t pan out as expected, Janet has years of shame and loneliness to overcome, and Claire is struggling in her role as a mother. The small-town bookshop unites these women in unlikely friendship, and as they each determine how best to move forward, their story together proves uplifting and heartwarming.If you enjoy contemporary fiction, especially when it involves a bookshop, plenty of book references, and a touch of romance, I highly recommend The Printed Bookshop.I received a complimentary copy of this book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.
    • 4/5
      I went into this book knowing I would probably like it. It featured a bookshop/books. that is what drew me to this book in the first place. However, I did not know just how much I would really enjoy this book. All three ladies were lovely. I can not choose a favorite as each one had a different unique story that connected with me. First off, if it had not been for Janet and Claire, I don't know if Madeline would have stayed. These ladies were not only good co-workers but friends as well. I got "lost" in this book (in a good way). Once, I started reading, there was not a lot that could distract me from the book. Author, Katherine Reay writes a lovely story of friendship, love, second chances, and books. The Printed Letter Bookshop is like receiving a hug from your grandma.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book! And what’s not to love — three engaging characters, a bookshop setting (that goes without saying) and very cool allusions to all the books, and a subtle and natural faith message that speaks hope and truth without hitting you over the head. The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay has it all and is a very highly recommended read!There are three characters that are central to the story of The Printed Letter Bookshop. The novel is told through their distinct POVs. But this book is unique in that format because the POVs are first person past tense, first person present tense, and third person. I found it a bit jarring at first, until I happened upon a line from one of the characters. Then it all fell into place with an aha! from me. Clever, clever author! ? The changes to the characters through their experiences are also expressed by the changes in their voices. Be on the look out for that. Madeline, Janet, and Claire are very different, yet I found myself relating to each of them. They’ve made mistakes, lost their way, and been influenced by partial knowledge — kind of like all of us. I loved their journeys. And the books! There are tons of references for dedicated book nerds. The shop and the books are wonderful vehicles for showcasing community, the importance of real relationships and of loving well. As for the faith message, forgiveness plays a big part in the story. I also loved how the author used Proverbs 31 to speak to each of the characters (and this reader) in a new, fresh way.Fans of books, books, books, fans of women’s fiction, fans of a good story told very well — that’s who should read The Printed Letter Bookshop. I promise you will love it! It is one of the best books I have read this year.Very Highly Recommended. Audience: adults.(Thanks to Celebrate Lit for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)