The Book of Beginnings
Nov. 10th, 2023 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI read The Book of Beginnings by Sally Page because I thought it might make a good Christmas present for my mum - and I think it will!
It's the story of Jo, who moves to London from Yorkshire to take over the running of her uncle's stationery shop when he is taken ill.
She, of course, is running away from the problems in her life, but the friends she makes in London and the people she tries to help end up showing her what's important and helping her to figure out what she wants to do.
Overall, it's a lovely story with lots of great details (I do love stationery) and lots of great characters.
I had two issues. One - why do all these heartwarming contemporary tales of found family and sweet life lessons have to involve a character with dementia? Two - one of the characters seemed (to me at least) to be very strongly queer-coded, but their sexuality was never explicitly stated and that irritated me. It felt (to me at least) as if the author was trying to hedge her bets in terms of a wider appeal - including diversity for those who know how to spot it but avoiding offence for those readers who wouldn't welcome it. Perhaps I'm wrong and perhaps I'm being over-sensitive - but that's just how I felt about it.
Anyway - other than that, I really enjoyed this book and I shall look forward to discussing it with my mum after Christmas!
It's the story of Jo, who moves to London from Yorkshire to take over the running of her uncle's stationery shop when he is taken ill.
She, of course, is running away from the problems in her life, but the friends she makes in London and the people she tries to help end up showing her what's important and helping her to figure out what she wants to do.
Overall, it's a lovely story with lots of great details (I do love stationery) and lots of great characters.
I had two issues. One - why do all these heartwarming contemporary tales of found family and sweet life lessons have to involve a character with dementia? Two - one of the characters seemed (to me at least) to be very strongly queer-coded, but their sexuality was never explicitly stated and that irritated me. It felt (to me at least) as if the author was trying to hedge her bets in terms of a wider appeal - including diversity for those who know how to spot it but avoiding offence for those readers who wouldn't welcome it. Perhaps I'm wrong and perhaps I'm being over-sensitive - but that's just how I felt about it.
Anyway - other than that, I really enjoyed this book and I shall look forward to discussing it with my mum after Christmas!
