The town itself was an island between sea and river, muttering and drawing into itself as soon as it felt the cold.

Here’s a short but effective description of this rather insular place: One of the things I enjoyed most about this novel was Fitzgerald’s descriptions of Hardborough and its inhabitants.

In time she acquires a supply of stock and opens The Old House Bookshop for business. With the aid of a loan from the bank, she acquires the Old House, a modest damp-infested property which comes complete with its own poltergeist (or ‘rapper’ to use the local term). Undeterred by a thinly-veiled warning from Mrs Gamart, Florence presses ahead. Hardborough must secure its place on the cultural landscape of Suffolk it must keep pace with the likes of Aldeburgh. Violet Gamart, one of Hardborough’s most powerful residents, has her eye on it for an arts centre. She trusts her previous experience in the book trade will stand her in good stead.Īt an early stage in the story, it becomes clear that Florence is not the only party interested in the Old House. Florence has decided to buy the Old House, a run-down historic building in the centre of Hardborough, with a view to converting it into a viable business. The Bookshop is set in 1959 in the fictional Suffolk town of Hardborough, where Florence Green, a middle-aged widow of limited means wishes to open a bookshop, something the town has not seen for several years.

The bookshop fitzgerald