The Bookseller
Summary (from the publisher): Denver, 1962: Kitty Miller has come to terms with her unconventional single life. She loves the bookshop she runs with her best friend, Frieda, and enjoys complete control over her day-to-day existence. She can come and go as she pleases, answering to no one. There was a man once, a doctor named Kevin, but it didn’t quite work out the way Kitty had hoped.
Then the dreams begin.
Denver, 1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They have beautiful children, an elegant home, and good friends. It's everything Kitty Miller once believed she wanted—but it only exists when she sleeps.
Convinced that these dreams are simply due to her overactive imagination, Kitty enjoys her nighttime forays into this alternate world. But with each visit, the more irresistibly real Katharyn’s life becomes. Can she choose which life she wants? If so, what is the cost of staying Kitty, or becoming Katharyn?
As the lines between her worlds begin to blur, Kitty must figure out what is real and what is imagined. And how do we know where that boundary lies in our own lives?
Then the dreams begin.
Denver, 1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They have beautiful children, an elegant home, and good friends. It's everything Kitty Miller once believed she wanted—but it only exists when she sleeps.
Convinced that these dreams are simply due to her overactive imagination, Kitty enjoys her nighttime forays into this alternate world. But with each visit, the more irresistibly real Katharyn’s life becomes. Can she choose which life she wants? If so, what is the cost of staying Kitty, or becoming Katharyn?
As the lines between her worlds begin to blur, Kitty must figure out what is real and what is imagined. And how do we know where that boundary lies in our own lives?
Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this novel from HarperCollins.
In 1962 Denver, Kitty Miller is content with her unconventional life as an unmarried woman who runs a bookshop with her best friend, Frieda. That is until she begins to dream about an alternate path her life may have taken - one in which she goes by Katharyn and is married to the love of her life and is a stay at home mother. Kitty begins to question the path her life has taken at the same time that the division between her two lives begin to blur and merge.
It's hard to discuss the conclusion of this book without giving away spoilers, but some discussion is necessary. I was concerned with how this novel could possibly conclude from its opening pages. I think the only explanation for Kitty/Katharyn's confusion of what is real life and not, for her apparent lapses in memory, is mental disturbance caused by grief. That being said, it was unbelievable that no one was more concerned about her apparent memory disturbances and periods of apparent incoherence where she would drift off into another world. I was disappointed by the way that Kitty "discovers" which world is reality; "This...is...it.' Rubbing my eyes, I look around. 'This is the real world'" (302). I thought there would be some clue that helped Kitty come rushing back her reality or some other grand realization rather than a sort of inane verbal confirmation of reality. Some serious suspension of disbelief is necessary to make the conclusion work.
Additionally, I was a little disappointed that Kitty seems to be poised between choosing an "independent" life and the more conventional path of wife and mother. The narrative seems to confirm that being a mother is a more selfless way to live, which I don't necessarily agree with. "In that other life, I am the center of my world. Of course, I love and care about other people - many other people. But at the end of the day, my thoughts and actions are mainly about managing my own life and my own emotions" (272). It seems that Katharyn's role as a mother is viewed by Kitty as a more worthwhile pursuit. Yet Kitty's tutoring of her young neighbor Greg, and developing easy to read books for children who struggle to read like Greg could be seen as more selfless and pivotal for a larger number than her work as a mother. In short, I didn't like the assessment of the worth of one lifestyle over another - I see both as worthy choices.
I found this an easy read, and was propelled easily through the narrative, curious to see what would happen with Kitty and her alternative reality Katharyn. It's interesting to me to contemplate how one's life could easily have taken a very different path. I thought her relationship with her best friend Frieda was an interesting element to the book, as was her autistic son, Michael. I appreciated that Katharyn struggled with parenting Michael - it made her seem human and realistic when she lost patience or felt at a loss with how to deal with a child, particularly since Michael would have been seen with significant stigma in the 1960s.
On another note, Aslan, Kitty's cat, was most aptly named after the lion from the C.S. Lewis novel. It was appropriate that Aslan's namesake also comes from a work of fiction that features an alternate world.
Stars: 3.5
Additionally, I was a little disappointed that Kitty seems to be poised between choosing an "independent" life and the more conventional path of wife and mother. The narrative seems to confirm that being a mother is a more selfless way to live, which I don't necessarily agree with. "In that other life, I am the center of my world. Of course, I love and care about other people - many other people. But at the end of the day, my thoughts and actions are mainly about managing my own life and my own emotions" (272). It seems that Katharyn's role as a mother is viewed by Kitty as a more worthwhile pursuit. Yet Kitty's tutoring of her young neighbor Greg, and developing easy to read books for children who struggle to read like Greg could be seen as more selfless and pivotal for a larger number than her work as a mother. In short, I didn't like the assessment of the worth of one lifestyle over another - I see both as worthy choices.
I found this an easy read, and was propelled easily through the narrative, curious to see what would happen with Kitty and her alternative reality Katharyn. It's interesting to me to contemplate how one's life could easily have taken a very different path. I thought her relationship with her best friend Frieda was an interesting element to the book, as was her autistic son, Michael. I appreciated that Katharyn struggled with parenting Michael - it made her seem human and realistic when she lost patience or felt at a loss with how to deal with a child, particularly since Michael would have been seen with significant stigma in the 1960s.
On another note, Aslan, Kitty's cat, was most aptly named after the lion from the C.S. Lewis novel. It was appropriate that Aslan's namesake also comes from a work of fiction that features an alternate world.
Stars: 3.5
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