The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane: The perfect feel-good read

By Looking at the cover one is led to expect a light hearted cozy romance. What one actually gets is the journey of a woman who has been left by her husband and now begins to deal with her own self actualization thus strengthening old relationships and forging new ones. While there is very little humor to be found this is not a depressing read at all. Highly recommend this book. Once started very hard to put down. Well worth the purchase price

This was only a three-star book for me. Other reviewers who gave “meh” ratings said the book was too predictable. A little bit of predictability in a plot is okay with me as long as the characters are interesting, and they were. Nathan was interesting because of his creepiness, and I especially liked Monica though we didn’t get to see enough of her.The reason I gave the book only three stars was this “feel good” story was a downer for me! Death, relationship problems, blech. And I didn’t like the main character, Della. She complained a lot and had a lot of negative observations about people. Also, almost all of the men in the book were boors or philanderers. The one really good guy was a two-dimensional prop.Still, overall it was an easy read, had an interesting list of characters, and incorporated a lovely setting in a small town. So I didn’t loath the book. I simply didn’t love it.

I bought this for a plane flight to San Francisco from Portland. I generally need a book that is engaging, but I can put it aside after 2 hours and not feel bereft at not finding out the ending. This book was perfect for that. It lasted me the trip to SF and back and I was able to be engaged in the sony, put it down and then pick it back up again.

(3.5 stars) Della finds herself in the possession of her mother’s collection of cookbooks after her death. She has fond memories of her mother using these books before her father left the family and how she stepped up as a young girl to use them to help take care of the family as her mother grieved. Her daughter, soon on the way to college thinks keeping the books is a bit mad, and her husband wants them out of the house, but she would love to find a way to give them new homes. She comes up with a plan to open a specialty bookstore featuring the cookbooks, never thinking she can pull it off. But then she is placed in a situation that changes her view of her life and herself and she decides that this is one thing that she can do for herself. (I read the Kindle version of this book.)

The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane is the story of a woman who finds out who she really is when she decides to open a bookshop dedicated entirely to the cookbooks her mother has collected for many years. When her personal life takes an unexpected turn Della find her true calling and her strength in taking her life in her own hands instead of remaining the person others think she should be. She also discovers that she isn't who she thought she was when she meets two friends from her mother's past. This book will keep your attention because there are surprises around ever turn.

I enjoy books based in the English countryside. This book did not disappoint. A story about a middle-aged everywoman struggling with her life choices. She did the best for her daughter during her childhood. She took a mindless, pleasant job to add a bit to the bank account. Trusting her husband to keep his vows. Oopsie. Stuff starts piling up. Her mom in hospice, then dies, siblings are no help. Mom's house to clean out & sell, daughter heading for college, she needs to get on with her life. The story is about her setbacks and successes.

A very pleasant read. It's not so much about a secondhand cookery book store as a human story of love and love lost. The store comes into its own at the very end, and that bit went a little too fast for me -- I could not work out how things for the bookstore could get so together, in such a short time. But nevertheless, an enjoyable read.

This is the first Ellen Berry book I have read and am totally a fan! Loved this entire book cover to cover - exactly the type of book I love! Ms Berry doesn't have to resort to foul language and people falling into bed on each page to make an interesting read. In my world people don't talk using the F word like it is an everyday word nor do they fall in and out of each other bed or if they do are smart enough to keep it to themselves. Love the description of Rosemary Cottage and the transformation of the bookshop. Exactly the types of places I would love to live in and work at! Love the love between Della and her daughter! Thanks for this great read and looking forward to the next in series!

This book started off with Della's Mum, Kitty, just dying from cancer and with the family trying to then sort her house and belongings out, including her hundreds of cookbooks. Kitty, their Mother, had three children, Jeff, Della and Roxanne, but it seems that all the hard work always fell on Della. Jeff was 'important' in banking and obviously far too important to do anything apart from being 'important', and Roxanne was busy in her job in London at a magazine and also 'too busy' with deadlines. So everything fell on poor Della to deal with and she let them put upon her as she felt it was just easier doing it herself.As Kitty had collected hundreds of cookbooks over the years Della didn't want to throw them out so decided to keep them, and brought them all back to her house, to the horror of her husband, Mark. Not long after she bumped into a couple of old friends from the village her Mum had lived in, and they had all grown up in - the small Yorkshire village of Burley Bridge, and heard that they were giving up their haberdashery shop, which had been rented, and moving to Majorca. Della's mind started whirring and as she had been feeling in a rut she decided to rent the old shop and turn it into a bookshop that only sells cookbooks. Her husband, Mark, of course poured scorn on the whole idea, but luckily Della ignored him and went ahead. I didn't like her husband at all, he wanted everything his own way, and it was so good to see Della standing up to him and deciding to do something for herself - especially as events unfolded and things changed a lot in her life.I did feel quite sorry for Della initially, everything seemed to be thrown at her all at once, and lesser people would have collapsed under all the stress, but in the end her life completely changed - for the better - and she rose to the challenge and came out of all the upheaval a much, much happier and stronger person which was so lovely to see. Things do really happen for a reason sometimes. She was such a caring person and really deserved all the happiness she got, she took a chance and it paid off and changed her life in such a big, happier way. Such a lovely feel good book, I didn't want it to end but finished it with a big smile on my face. I also think this could be the start of a series of books (I hope...?!) and I would definitely be buying the next one if there was. Highly recommended.

It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realised that Ellen Berry is Fiona Gibson whose books I really like. I loved every page of this one, too! I've read a couple of books recently where the characters are around my age (50's) and find that you can really empathise with them and it makes a lovely change to read about 'slightly' older characters!Della has just lost her mum and most of the care towards the end of her life fell to her and her siblings are also expecting her to clear the house. They choose the only things that they want to keep from the house and Della is left to arrange the clearance. She feels drawn to her mum's old cookbooks which felt like a big part of her childhood. There are literally hundreds of them but her husband isn't very keen to have them cluttering up their house.After an unexpected turn Della signs a lease on an empty shop and plans to open a vintage cookery book shop. She wants others to find delight in the old books and also provide a meeting place for like minded people to meet and exchange ideas. She meets opposition- but her friends rally round and tell her how wonderful it will be. The prickly nature of steering through teenage childhood is also part of the book. The different relationships are portrayed so realistically.We follow major life changes in some of the characters and it is lovely to see the friendships between Della and those around her. You can really imagine being in the little Yorkshire village and seeing this idyllic shop emerging from Della's dreams into reality.I loved the 'opening' scenes - where the mix of the characters come together and you can feel the excitement in the air with everyone bringing food to share and they all sit down to chat and browse through the cookery books sharing in the history it brings with it. I tend to be a collector of cookery books- and can imagine the joy in finding such a shop in an unexpected location. I also loved the side story with Della trying to find members of the recipe club.A really beautiful book to settle down with, maybe planning a little dinner party for friends or dreaming of following your hearts desire and seeing where it would lead you. It really wraps round you in a cosy hug and leaves you with a wonderfully warm feeling.

I have sat and read this in a day and a bit, a really did enjoy the story,Della was married to Mark who was a little straight and stayed as a husband. The story unravels when Dellas mother Kitty died and Della just missed her death by minutes, Della was always the one in the family who was landed with all the mess whilst the rest of the family took care of themselves.The worse thing was to find that her husband had been having an affair for months and that her mother had an affair and that maybe her father was not her father at all, her husband Mark leaves her for a younger model just like her dad left her when she was a child.Della decides it's time to do something for herself so she does and this is where it all gets involved and fun, it's a really good story, it has sadness,fun and laughter and success, so treat yourself to a really good summer read.

Who would have thought that a pile of books could create such a wonderful storyline. I truly enjoyed this book from beginning to the end. Much of the story is predictable, but the path getting there is well worth taking. The story is very much about a woman taking her own passage through life after her daughter is installed at University and the turn of events that help her make the decision on the next step she will take that will alter her own lifes journey and give her the fulfilment she has craved for all of her life without realising it. She learns so much more about herself than she could ever have imagined. This book is well written and a joy to read.

I really enjoyed the start of this book as I felt I could identify with Della, the main character, as she tried to please everyone without much thought for herself. Her experience of her daughter going off to college, and the difficulty of leaving her in the halls of residence really struck a chord with me and probably every other parent who has done this. Even her husband taking her straight home and then going off alone was very familiar. I then found I was getting a bit irritated with Della for letting her brother and sister to a lesser extent walk all over her and I felt she should have realised a lot sooner what was going on with her husband Mark. Having said this, it was still a good read and I would recommend the book for easy holiday reading.