The Book Shop
Release Date: 9th February
Publisher: Totally Bound
Blurb
Even I, who had resisted kicking and screaming, had to
admit defeat. Why would love be impressed by the protests of a simple
bookseller?
Jakoba has had
enough. It is 1999 and she looks back on her life that began at the start of
the century. Her arrival was unexpected, but joyfully welcomed, by her
middle-aged parents. In a time where a middle-class girl has one destiny,
namely to become a wife and mother, Jakoba is allowed to start working at a
bookshop. Books become one of the loves of her life. Later she will inherit the
shop.
She values
friendship, but romance has no meaning for her. She values her independence too
much and knows all too well what price women pay for being married.
It is German army
photographer Armin who will change the course of her life. Jakoba is forty when
she meets him. Armin is almost thirty, and Germany has occupied Holland. It
does not matter. For him, she’s the one, and despite her hesitation both
because of the war and because she can’t understand what this handsome man sees
in her—a plain woman—she has to admit her feelings for him.
Such love has
consequences for both of them that will reach far beyond the war and in ways
Jakoba could never have imagined.
Publisher's
Note: This book has previously been published
elsewhere. It has been re-edited for re-release with Totally Bound Publishing.
Lost in translation?
The Bookshop is originally
a Dutch language novella taking place in Holland in the twentieth century, and
during the translation into English, I started to wonder if non-Dutch readers
would actually enjoy the story. Or if they would even be able to relate to the
main character, Jakoba, a bookseller who has quite a unique outlook on life. She’s
so quiet that you might wonder if she’s really there, but she also has a
presence that can’t be denied. She’s a good little girl who still goes her own
way. She’s an introvert, but with an eclectic circle of friends. She’s the
resistant fighter (but don’t call her that) who accepts the love of a German
propaganda photographer because she refuses to lie to herself or to him in the
name of politics.
I believe that reading
a story is like visiting a foreign country that can’t be travelled in any other
way. You are tourist into the mind of the writer, but just as much in that of
your own. A book is always the result of the both writer and reader. A writer
can only try to get the message across, but it is the reader who has the power
of interpretation. Both bring their own background, knowledge and personal
taste to the table. And whatever the result, we writers and readers will always
go back for more.
What are your
thoughts?
Excerpt
We walked through the dunes. Thanks to the
photographer’s job, we had access to an area where otherwise I would have been
chased away. He courteously offered me his arm, but I refused. I shivered. “It
will be winter soon.”
“Thank you for walking with me.” When the
situation asked for it, we had spoken with each other during the past weeks,
but a polite distance remained.
I stopped walking, my hands deep in the
pockets of my coat. I wasn’t sure what to say, but thought I had to say
something. Once again, I looked at his boots, uniform and cap, but avoided his
gaze. I didn’t have to look him in the face to imagine his eyes. They were
gentle brown eyes in a face that could be described as attractive by any
standard. He had gorgeous hands, a perfect mixture of strength and elegance. I
could have fallen in love with him for his hands alone. I wanted to catch him
doing anything that would make him unsympathetic in my eyes, so I could tell
him that any form of contact between us would be out of the question. I smiled
at my own thoughts. Human, all too human.
About R.A.
In no particular order: woman, writer, in a
relationship with my wife since 1981 (though we had to wait until 2001 until we
could actually get married), mother of two grown sons, owner of cats (I can
pretend, can’t I?), reader and a lot more.
I write in different genres under different
names. I’m also S.Dora for my M/M erotica and Ella Laurance for my
M/F erotica.
Find R.A. Here
