I really didn't care for this book. I read the whole book in bits and pieces,mostly because I kept losing interest. The plot was okay - Tom's wife leaves him and comes back, this time pregnant and Tom raises the boy as his own. When she leaves again, he is devastated, but finds love again. His second wife seemed to be somewhat like the first one, although she does seem more genuine. The ending left me flat. It's like I was on an unfamiliar road expecting it to go somewhere but just dead ends.

An emotional rollercoaster of a read, you’ll need your tissues with this or any least I did. A story about loss, grieving, hope and love. An emotional but powerful read and thoroughly recommended

Really liked this book although thereI would have liked more about the bookshop. However despite that it told a lovely story, has wonderful characters and is beautifully written.

This has got to be one of the saddest stories that I have read in a very long time. Even during joyful moments, there is sadness.

My thanks to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in July 2019.

This book was unique, one that looks at the grieving/coping processes differently, more realistically. Hillman looks at multiple aspects of what it means to be a parent and the coping mechanisms people use to deal with a loss of a child. Do we ever really get over losing a child? Can new adult relationships ever patch the hole that is left? Also, as a librarian, feel the role books play in the healing process is a wonderful addition. Highly recommend to readers of Wiseman and Morton.

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman spoke to me in a special way because I grew up in a bookshop in country Victoria. Even if you didn’t, the author paints a vivid enough picture of the landscape and the characters that you’ll feel like you did.

The book cuts between present day Australia (in 1968) and Auschwitz 24 years prior, telling a backstory that helps us understand how the characters became who they are and how they got there. The story is paced well and I found it very engaging — I ended up reading it all in two sittings.

I’ll warn you that the story is heartbreaking (especially if you’re a mother) and yet it is also heartwarming. Over all it’s a story about new beginnings, finding who you are, and family not needing to be made from blood.

Lovely story about brokenhearted individuals who come together and work very hard at staying that way. I felt like the setting was much longer ago that after WWII, but it was a wonderful tale.

What a super fun read! I loved everything about this book. The interaction between characters was great. I enjoyed all of the story lines and how they crossed each other.

I love that all of the books mentioned was listed in the back of the book. My TBR is growing.

This one reminded me of a favorite book The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey--another great book about a bookshop and how they bring people together.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. It took me a long time to get into this book, although I still didn't become massively engaged with it. I felt sympathy for Peter and Tom and was rooting for their relationship, and also felt that the chapters relating to Auschwitz were very well-written.

Tom is a farmer and lives outside a small town in Australia, he has been unlucky in love and his wife has left him. When his wife returns he finds out that she is pregnant with another mans child. Tom brings this child up as his own and loves the boy dearly.
After his wife goes away for a second time Tom meets Hannah a survivor of Auschwitz and the new owner of the towns bookshop he finds love again.
I really like the character Tom and his son Peter and very much enjoyed this book.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Faber & Faber for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book by the cover first and then the synopsis. If you are looking for a book about Book Shops, then this is not what it is about. Yes there is a Book Shop, but it is about so much more.

Normally I don't like books that have a past and present time line running simultaneously. It seems to be the in thing at the moment, maybe to allow books to be longer than they other wise would be. But in this case it was to emphasise what had gone on in Hannah's life before she came to Australia. It explained her reasons for being how she was.

Tom was an accidental farmer and I did feel that he seemed to be able to do so much in so little time. I didn't get the feeling that it was a particularly big farm, especially as he was milking a few cows by hand twice a day. No easy task and he must have had a good price for the milk to make it worth his while.

Tom didn't come across as your macho Aussie, although he had no qualms about shooting sheep worrying dogs and I had not problems with that either. This is how life is and still is for farmers around the world.

This was the 60s when men still ruled and coercive behaviour hadn't been seen as anything untoward.

A well written and engrossing read.

This book took a while for me to get into. All of the background information given was important to the story but personally I felt that it didn’t really ‘get going’ until Hannah’s past was being explored.
I feel that this element of the story was the most interesting and overall the book was a good read... ***

The characters were so engaging in this book that I found it hard to put down. A heart warming story which included a glimpse into a dark history in real life, this story was beautifully presented. I highly recommend it.


I just reviewed The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman. #TheBookshopOfTheBrokenHeartedFaberbooks #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Any book about books, bookshops, etc, usually gets a thumbs up from me! This book was sadly not nearly as much about a bookshop as I would have thought but it certainly was about the broken hearted! The last 20% of this book changed my mind from 2 to 3 stars. I really struggled with this one. Tom is a very likable character, I had empathy for Trudy, but I really struggled to understand and like Hannah. Han just seemed so selfish and self centered. I often felt like I was reading two different books at once. I usually enjoy books that weave back and forth from present to past and back again. This book just felt very disconnected. Death, murder, and animal cruelty all play into this book but frequently in a disjointed way. I did ok reading about 10% of the book at a time and then reading something more likable (for me), but I did read the last 20% in one sitting. Whether it was because I was near the ending or because it was one of the best parts of the book may be a toss up.

Loved the title was drawn right into the story .So well written emotional moving with characters that came alive.Highly recommend. #netgalley #faber&faber

This was a nice story of reminding others how to heal in the glow of the aftermath of tragedy.

I think this read will appeal to many bookish readers, and provides an interesting and heartbreaking take on what it means to heal.

An enjoyable read. I am always drawn to books about books and bookshops, and also those set in Australia in the Sixties, so this was perfect for me in that respect. In fact, the bookshop doesn't feature heavily but that doesn't matter.

Tom Hope is a reluctant farmer whose wife, Trudy, leaves him to look after another man's child. He comes to love the boy, Peter, and is broken hearted when, after a few years, Trudy claims him back and takes him to live with the cult she belongs to.

Tom then meets Hannah, the flamboyant bookshop owner and they begin a relationship. When Peter runs away from the cult and comes back to the farm, Hannah tells Tom that if he comes back to stay she will have to leave. Trudy demands Peter's return anyway, but Tom is saddened by Hannah's attitude.

There are flashbacks to show why she thinks this way. Being Jewish, she and her family were sent to Auschwitz. The horrors that unfolded there have coloured her attitude to life forever.

Can Tom and Hannah ever be at peace within their relationship? What if Peter does come home?

These questions are sensitively answered in this novel of heartache, horror and hope.

This was beautifully written and engaging. There was so much to do it and made me reflect. Posting in June on my bookedupgirl blog

Tom Hope has had a hard time recently. He loved his wife, but she left him after becoming bored with the farming life, only to return within a year, pregnant with another man's child.

I won't focus too much on her, as the focus of the story is really on Hannah, a holocaust survivor who lost her family in Auschwitz. Keen to create a new life, she relocates to Australia. After Tom helps her make the shelves for her new bookshop, they slowly begin a relationship, despite the difficulties facing them both.

This is a hard one for me to review. It has all of the elements of books that I would normally love, but for some reason, I just couldn't quite connect with any of the characters. Trudy, the wife, was just a terrible person, and Hannah was very difficult to get a grasp on - I couldn't quite work out whether her feelings were genuine, or just due to a desire to live that sort of life after the trauma of her background. Tom also was a challenge to me - was he just a good man, trying his best, or a pushover, who was too weak to stand up for himself?

Despite that, I did really enjoy this book. It is difficult, yes, and the subject matter can be very upsetting, but the writing is slow, steady, and beautiful, and I found it really engaging. Tissues are definitely needed!

I loved this story. I loved Tom. He and Hannah. Peter and Trudy. All wonderful and different. Beautiful.