The Bookshop
{5/5} “In the case of biographies, it’s better, I find, if they’re about good people, whereas novels are much more interesting if they are about nasty people.”
The Bookshop, released in 2017
Florence decides to open a bookshop. She’s startled to run into opposition from people who think they know better than her. She’s also startled to find that people are believing rumours that she’s changed her mind. Eventually she opens the shop and things seem great, but the rich and powerful Violet hasn’t forgotten her desire to turn that store into an arts centre.
The story takes place in the late 1950s.
It’s about good people, nasty people, and the people who follow nasty people. It’s about courage.
The kid Florence hires to help her at the store is delightful. As is the man who never comes to the store but nevertheless continues to buy books, played by Bill Nighy.
The narrator is Julie Christie.
Stars Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson. Directed by Isabel Coixet (The Secret Life of Words).