The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

 

"It was funny, she thought, how often we stuck to the safe path in life, pulling on blinders and keeping our eyes to the ground, doing our best not to look at the fantastic view. Without seeing the heights we had reached, the opportunities actually awaiting us out there; without realizing we should just jump and fly, at least for a moment.          -Sara, from the novel

This book was recommended by a friend, and it was really a fun read---much different than anything I've read lately. It was truly unique in that it is quite literally a book about books! Plus one of the main characters is dead from the start!

Sara Lindqvist travels from her home in Sweden to the fading small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa, to meet her pen pal, Amy Harris. Sara, who had worked in a bookshop, had been sharing a correspondence with Amy about their mutual love of books. She arrives only to find that Amy has passed away and she had just missed the funeral. Of course, Sara is shocked and confused about what she should do but the residents of the town, who have apparently adored Amy, take it upon themselves to welcome Sara. She feels as if she already knows some of the citizens from hearing about them in Amy's letters, which are sprinkled throughout the novel. They included the prim and proper (and bossy) Caroline Rohde and "Poor George'" who is suffering a broken family and Tom Harris, a relative of Amy, who is single and seems rather cold at first. 

Sara decides to open a bookshop in Broken Wheel against everyone's advice. As you might predict, it ends up being a blessing to the town and provides Sara with a sense of belonging and purpose that she has been missing.

I enjoyed the mention of so many well-known books, a number of my favorites like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The author even lists the books and authors mentioned in a special section of the book. Among them authors I enjoy so much like Jodi Picoult, Mark Twain, Fannie Flagg and John Grisham. 

In one scene, Sara is talking to a customer about the smells of different books and that "New books always had the strongest aroma." This made me realize the reader misses this feature while reading in a digital format.

According to an author bio, Ms. Bivald is Swedish and worked in a bookshop herself so one could assume there is at least some resemblance to her main character, Sara. This is her debut novel, and a good one. I rate it a 5, very enjoyable. I may recommend this for Page Turners for next year.