A Very Special Year
Thomas Montasser (transl., Jamie Bulloch), 2016
One World Publications
166 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781780748665
Summary
It’s not true that booksellers look after books; they look after people. A Very Special Year is a declaration of love to the guardians of literature and book doctors all over the world—an absolute gem. — Nina George, bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop
When young businesswoman Valerie takes over the bookshop owned by her aunt—who has vanished without trace—her intention is to bring some order to the chaos, and then sell the business.
But she has underestimated the power of this little store. As she spends her days in an old armchair, losing herself in books by Italo Calvino and Gustav Flaubert as well as Jonathan Safran Foer and Shahriar Mandanipour, she finds herself in thrall to the life of a bookseller—including the resident bookstore rat (yes, rat, not cat) and the chaotic shelving system.
One day she stumbles upon a mysterious book with an unfinished ending. Valerie thinks it must be a defective copy, but when a customer turns up searching for that very book, her view of the shop—and world—is never the same. (From the publisher.)