The Lost Bookshop
by Susan Wiggs
(New York: William Morrow/HarperCollins 2020)
Don’t judge, Natalie reminded herself. People have their reasons.
Page 7.
Dominic Rossi was the type of husband who gave husbands a good name. The type of guy for whom the expression tall, dark, and handsome had been coined. The type of guy who exuded humor and heart along with a can-do attitude. He was the former president of the Bank of Archangel, but his passion was making wine.
Page 17.
Wine was such a beautiful thing, complex and rich and delicious.
Page 21.
“You’d be surprised by ow much hour can learn from failure.”
Page 22.
“Saving a person takes away her power to learn and move forward.”
Page 22.
She stared at the woman who had just said her mother was dead, but she really couldn’t see anything through the blindness of shock.
Page 27.
Natalie had not been prepared for how hard it was turning out to be. It made the current situation a fresh horror to him every time he forgot his daughter had been killed and had to be reminded.
Page 31.
When she was a girl, Natalie used to start each day by skipping through the shop, calling good morning to her favorites as she passed them.
Page 32.
The Lost and Found Bookshop had been a fixture on Perdita Street for as long as Natalie had been alive, and the sudden demise of its owner had inspired a huge, loving, and immensely- sad reaction.
Page 33.
When she was very small, her mother used to tell her that books were alive in a special way. Between the covers, characters were living their lives, enacting their dramas, falling in and out of love, finding trouble, working out their problems. Even sitting closed on a shelf, a book had a life of its own. When someone opened the book, that was when the magic happened.
Page 42.
The shock and grief of losing Blythe were so deep and intense that it felt as if a new and devastating emotion had been invented just for them.
Page 45.
Notes were not necessary when speaking from the heart.
Page 47.
Love took the heart by surprise.
Page 50.
There was a book for everything.
Page 55.
You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.
Page 55.
The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
Page 56.
Guys wanted to imagine their exes pining for them.
Page 60.
The only thing certain about a relationship was that it would end.
Page 60.
A book would never betray you or change its mind or make you feel stupid.
Page 68.
When someone left without warning, there was work to be done.
Page 69.
“It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you.”
Page 72.
With her mother gone, the past felt different in ways she hadn’t expected.
Page 74.
Stability had its price.
Page 77.
Sometimes you have to let the right book find you.
Page 79.
When someone apologized in advance for being insensitive, it was certain that the next thing they’d say would be insensitive.
Pages 84-85.
In olden times many people didn’t know how to read, so they looked for symbols instead.
Page 96.
“The Sunrose Building is part of my blood and bone. It is a repository of treasures seen and unseen. I need to stay in order to keep my mind from wandering away. It is the only way to keep the world intact.”
Page 97.
Despite her need for steadiness and predictability, she couldn’t stand her own life anymore.
Page 100.
“We’re staying open,” she said. “I’m going to figure out a way to make it work. Grandy won’t sell, and he refuses to move, and I’m not going to force him. So I’m going to make this the vest damn bookstore on the West Coast.”
Page 103.
Normally she would analyze a decision to death. Not this time. She had thrown away a stable, lucrative job to embrace a failing enterprise with no safety net.
Page 103.
“You’ll never be happy with what you want until you can be happy with what you’ve got.”
Page 104.
He’d been living like a monk for so long that pretty much everything sounded sexy to him.
Page 112.
“The sadness feels so … pervasive. It takes up all my headspace.”
Page 125.
While working on restoration jobs and repairs, Peach often found himself privy to bits and pieces of people’s lives.
Page 136.
“I have a love-hate relationship with this place. I love that our entire family history lives here, and I hate that we can’t afford to keep it.”
Page 141.
Making a living as a bookseller was entirely possible, but only if the inventory was skillfully managed.
Page 149.
“Don’t feel bad,” Quill said. “I’m a writer. Rejection is my life.”
Page 159.
The way you spend your day is the way you spend your life.
Page 165.
There was something wildly attractive about Natalie Harper. It had to do with the fact that she was the absolute opposite of needy, holding herself fat a distance, her defenses drawn around her like a wall.
Page 176.
Just because something was old and damaged was no reason to abandon it.
Page 178.
Objects that evoked memories had a peculiar sort of power.
Page 179.
The ache of loss was almost physical as she yearned for more time with her mother.
Page 188.
Bookstores were important. People loved them. They added a special vibrancy to any community.
Page 189.
Dating anyone was a bad idea.
Page 203.
“There’s no shortcut through grief and guilt.”
Page 221.
“I’ve always believed there’s something magical about a book. A bundle of paper and ink that can change your life.”
Page 221.
They weren’t close anymore. They were like disaster survivors who made one another uncomfortable because their very existence was a reminder of the trauma.
Page 231.
“It’s the nature - no, the duty - of a child to grow up and leave you. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? The person you love most in the world is destined to leave you and break your heart.”
Page 234.
Being in love was so heady and addictive that she couldn’t believe her mother managed to do without it.
Page 236.
The world looked so different from the water.
Page 239.
A person’s clothes held their very essence.
Page 245.
“Giving away her stuff means she’s well and truly gone,” said Natalie, regarding the garments piled on the bed. “Oh God. It’s like carrying her out with the trash.”
Page 247.
“What good is knowing stuff if you can’t use it?”
Page 262.
Realizing he was single had caused such a swift realignment of her impression of him that she wanted to dig down a layer. Questions that would be inappropriate to ask a married man were suddenly possible.
Pages 262-263.
What most fascinated Natalie about Peach was the way he seemed to take life in stride. Clearly he’d had his share of ups and downs - a massive family drama, a stint in the military he didn’t talk about, a divorce - yet nothing seemed to faze him. She wished she could be more like that.
Page 263.
“I’ve always thought you can get to know someone by the books they love.”
Page 271.
“When a person wants you to know things about him, he’ll tell you.”
Page 272.
She now understood Blythe’s devotion to the store. Unlike men, books were easy. They filled you with all the emotions in the world - joy, dread, fear, hurt, gratification - and then they came to an end. People were different. Unpredictable. Impossible to manage.
Page 273.
Rich kids tended to have first names that sounded like last names.
Page 275.
“An audience of kids is just as tough as an audience of adults. With more squirming.”
Pages 282-283.
“A bookseller is the link between the stories we tell and the readers we tell them to. Without that, a story has no life outside the writer’s imagination.”
Page 284.
“The best ideas are big ideas that come straight from your gut, not your head. Ideas that give you big feelings.”
Page 286.
“When you hang out with kids, you never know what you’re going to hear.”
Page 291.
“Heartbreak is a terrible thing but its not a permanent condition. If you allow it, your heart will renew itself and find joy once again.”
Page 315.
“It’s quite impossible to feel lonely when you’re in the presence of a delightful child.”
Page 316.
“If you’re looking for an uncomplicated relationship, get a dog.”
Page 329.