Lost for Words

Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland

Published by Bonnier Zaffre

April 2017

THIS BOOKSHOP KEEPS MANY SECRETS . . .Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never show you.

Into her refuge - the York book emporium where she works - come a poet, a lover, a friend, and three mysterious deliveries, each of which stirs unsettling memories.

Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past and she can't hide any longer. She must decide who around her she can trust. Can she find the courage to right a heartbreaking wrong? And will she ever find the words to tell her own story?
It's time to turn the pages of her past . . .

For a lover of books this was an ideal read to while away the hours, by reading about someone who works in a bookshop!  Our central character is Loveday Cardew, a not conventional girl whose body is covered in tattoos with the first lines of some of her favourite books.  She keeps herself to herself, and very few people know very much about her past, including her only friend, bookshop owner Archie; who himself is larger than life for the both of them.  Stalked by the very weird Rob, Loveday is not looking for romance, until the studious Nathan enters the shop with a book request.  He invites her to the local poetry reading night and Loveday sees a side of him revealed that makes her want to spend more time with this man.  Can she actually learn to open her heart in return through the genre of poetry?  Throughout the book we travel back to Whitby, to Loveday's childhood and learn why she no longer sees her parents despite what appears to be an idyllic childhood.  Things are about to change for her though when a delivery of books to the store starkly remind her of her childhood, in fact they appear to be the exact copies of books that were owned by her mother, but that couldn't possibly be the case could it?  Could there be someone in York who actually knows of Loveday's hidden past, and if so, who are they, and what do they want?

This book had the perfect combination of happy and sad and bitter-sweet moments within it that made it a pleasure to sit and immerse myself into.  I'll be looking out for more books by this author.

Happy Reading

Miss Chapters x