A Bookshop, a few Mitfords, and a Slow-Paced Novel

Let’s start with what worked: The Mayfair Bookshop has a great hook—London, WWII, a charming bookshop, and a spotlight on Nancy Mitford. The historical setting is rich, and the real-life Mitford drama adds some sparkle. If you’re already a fan of Nancy and her scandal-prone sisters, you might find the behind-the-scenes stuff intriguing. There’s gossip, heartbreak, and the war looming in the background, which makes for decent historical fiction. But here’s the thing: the dual timeline structure doesn’t quite balance. Nancy’s chapters are clearly the main event, while the present-day storyline feels like filler. Lucy, the modern book curator, just didn’t do it for me. Her quest to uncover a […]

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