Review: "The Little Paris Bookshop," by Nina George

This book was originally published in the writer's native German in 2013 and translated into English in 2019.

The Little Paris Bookshop is a novel about a bookseller that has the gift of pairing books with readers. He is a literary apothecary giving readers precisely what they need to heal their souls even though he is hiding his own pain and story of lost love.  Twenty years before, he received a letter from his lover. Assuming it is a "Dear John" letter, he stashes it away, never to be read. When he finally reads the letter he sets off on a literal and metaphoric journey to heal his broken heart.

This is a story of lost love, finding yourself, and finding new love. Nina George's writing is lush, and I found myself underlining so many passages. One of my favorite passages resonated with me because it sums up why I love books and travel. "Reading-an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind" -Nina George. Whether you are traveling through the passages of a novel or in the literal sense you should always come out a better person for getting to experience a world outside your own. 

I picked up this book to read on a trip to Paris and it left me longing for the South of France. If you need a book to lose yourself in, this is the book for you.