If you are a believer in bookish serendipity, The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman is for you. Similar in style to Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop, this novel is all about the life of the Australian farmer Tom, his religious cult involved ex-wife Trudy, and their son Peter. In his small town, Tom meets Hannah Babel, a Jewish immigrant recovering from time in Auschwitz, and they are brought together by the power of words. Hannah decides to open up a bookshop for the community, and throughout the course of this, Hannah develops feelings for Tom. I really enjoyed how the narrative alternated between Tom's perspective and flashbacks to Hannah's during WW2. My only complaint with this novel was that it was too short! Also, I would like to recommend a trigger warning to highly sensitive people because this book does include descriptions of physical violence in a concentration camp and violence against animals.

Spanning two wars, this sad and poignant story revolves around love, loss and the struggle to maintain balance between those two.

The title of this novel piqued my interest as I love all things related to books. But alas, the title is a bit misleading, as the bookshop is not really a prominent part of the story. I was disappointed in the plot timing ... it really dragged in parts. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. It was the title that got me about bookshops (favourite places of mine) not sure what I can say about this book really except it does not have a lot about bookshops.

I think the title of this book is a little misleading. The bookshop does not feature as prominently as the title suggests. I didn't engage with the characters as much as I had hoped I would and at times I felt the story was very slow to develop. However the writing style was good.

Tom Hope is a farmer, not so much by choice, but rather by inheriting his uncle's farm. If you know anything about farming, you know that it is a hard life full of back-breaking work and often little monetary reward. While Tom spends his days milking, herding sheep, and doing whatever needs to be done, his wife Trudy is bored and unhappy. She leaves Tom and when she returns, she is pregnant by another man. When Peter is born, Tom loves him with all of his heart and when Trudy leaves again, Peter stays with Tom and their bond grows. Cruelly, Trudy returns for Peter with nary a thought given to the heartache she causes for Tom and for her son. There is nothing Tom can do since legally, he has no right to keep Peter from his mother.
At this point, I was wondering what else could possibly happen to this good, honest man. Luckily the next thing is Hannah, a Holocaust survivor who is opening a bookshop in town. She is quirky and upbeat on the outside, but the terror and trauma she survived have had a profound effect on her life. Tom and Hannah fall in love, but will their pasts bring them closer or tear them apart?
A lovely read that was a slow burn that had me hoping for a happy ending. The setting is vividly described and I could feel not only the loneliness and isolation but also the beauty of the land. A very nice change of pace from my usual mystery/thriller reads.
I received a DRC from Faber and Faber Ltd. through NetGalley.

The book started off so well and I was really enjoying it. But sadly it soon nose dived and became very monotonous and muttered on and became hard to understand exactly what the writer was talking about at times

This book was ready good. Due to my reading addiction I love books that are centered around a bookshop and this one certainly didn’t disappoint
A great read which I didn’t want to end