The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman
Do not be put off by the
title!! This is not a cheesy romantic
lightweight story, but is actually quite heavy and sad in places. I am perhaps slightly biased as the story is
set in Victoria, Australia and I used to live there, so I enjoyed the
references to places I know and the occasional use of local lingo. It also, obviously, features a bookshop, and
what reader doesn’t love a bookshop!?
The story is set in the 1970s
and centres on Tom, a good honest farmer with a kind heart, perhaps too
kind. At certain points I felt he needed more backbone and assertiveness,
but gentleness is clearly in his nature and he does not wish to force his will
on other people. He has made his
decisions and chooses to live his life in a simple manner and behave a certain
way, and there is beauty and honesty in that, which other characters can and do
appreciate, despite their frustrations.
As the title suggests, there
is a lot of heartbreak in the story. The
book opens with Tom’s pain and bewilderment over his wife leaving him, but this
is soon replaced by new sorrows. Most of
the heartache, however, is not in relation to romance, but grief, war,
separation, disloyalty, abandonment and abuse.
All the main characters are affected in some way.
This may sound like a
terribly depressing and joyless read, but the story is told with such tenderness,
and the characters are well-drawn and emotive, that it is enjoyable. The moments of happiness and contentment are
lovely and you feel the characters deserve them, even if they may be
short-lived.
We are clearly positioned on
Tom’s side right from the start, however I felt I had permission to judge and
feel irritated with him as well as sorry for him. All the characters are very human, they are
flawed and often misguided and very true to life. As well as Tom I felt strongly for the boy Peter,
who is innocently caught up in and traumatised by the actions of others and is
powerless to exert his own will.
Hannah, the bookshop owner,
is an interesting complicated character.
She is new to Tom’s town, having moved to Australia trying to escape the
anti-Semitism and unrest which was rife in Europe, and so we naturally feel
sympathy for her, yet she is not a fully likable woman. The gradual unfolding of her back story is
well executed and captivating. I have
read a lot of books which feature the Second World War, but found this one had
a slightly different perspective. Yes her
story included familiar elements, but it dwelt less on the concentration camp
and more on the aftermath, both the what to do immediately afterwards and the
impact of it on the rest of Hannah’s life.
It is through understanding her past that we can comprehend her present
thoughts and actions.
I would
definitely recommend this book, but recognise it will not please everyone.
Later in the
book the chapters alternate between Tom’s and Hannah’s story. This provides a sharp contrast between their
past experiences and knowledge of the world, highlighting the vast gulf between
them, leading the reader to question whether it can ever be successfully
bridged. This change in structure also
injects pace and action as, at times, Tom’s story, like his nature, is more
slow and gentle and contemplative, mirroring the rural setting. Having said this, his daily life is also
abruptly punctuated by sudden gruesome incidents - animal attacks and even
murder, which Tom deals with very calmly with characteristic strength and
compassion.
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