Synopsis:
A fantasy adventure through cozy, cluttered bookshops and into the pages of classic literature itself, set in the world of international bestselling author Mark Lawrence’s groundbreaking The Library Trilogy.
Bookshops have always been places where worlds collide. Places where ideas make war, where cultures meet and mingle. For Frederick “Red” Archer, a young man hanging on at the edge of society, a bookshop he wanders into will be the place that changes his life.
Rose Penrose is watching the world from the other side of the page, transported by an act of awful violence into a book her mother wrote. When a terrifying pursuer has Rose cornered, she is somehow able to leap from the book she inhabits into another—one that happens to be in the very bookshop where Red is standing.
This chance encounter entwines their lives together. Now they must journey through beloved fictional words, a great evil following their every step, until they can find the only story that matters—their own.
Review:
When I was in college, I took a philosophy course. One of the requirements was to read a novel called Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner. Our professor didn’t prep us on the book before we started reading it and this was in the days before Amazon and Goodreads so finding spoiler reviews was virtually impossible (not that I would have anyway). I remember when I started reading I thought it was a bit heavy-handed how Gaardner was instructing his audience on the basics of philosophy going back to Plato and Aristotle and moving through history to current day. But then…and this moment will always stick with me…the book dramatically changed and fundamentally and forever altered what I thought a book even could do. I was wholly caught off-guard and am forever thankful that I was given the chance to read it.
In some very real ways, Mark Lawrence’s The Bookshop Book shares some key DNA with Gaardner’s work. Lawrence has a deft touch to his writing and adds mystery and whimsy to his writing. At its heart, The Bookshop Book adds even more wonder and awe to the books that we read as well as the books that simply sit on our shelves day in and day out.
Lawrence had a break-out hit with his Library Trilogy, but apparently wasn’t content to let the lore of the Library be contained to just three books (and a handful of short stories). So we’re treated to a standalone adventure that exists in the same universe, but has tangential connections to the pre-existing stories. You should be able to read and enjoy this book on its own, but there is an added enjoyment from recognizing elements and characters that previously appeared in the other books.
In terms of expanding his Library universe, Lawrence did a smart thing by setting a portion of the The Book That Held Her Heart in Europe as the continent is bracing for the Holocaust and World War II. By taking the “fantasy” characters from the first few books and putting them into our “real” world, he showed that the Library transcends realities and time itself. That foray into our own world gave the series a little more weight, in my opinion, but also an easy way to branch out into something we all can relate to — the books we see on our bookshelves each and every day.
Lawrence’s prose is the big draw here. The stories that he draws from — Wind in the Willows, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, etc. — may seem simple in retrospect, but there are some big ideas into which Lawrence injects new life. The writing throughout is thoughtful when it needs to be, a little oblique (like the Oz and Alice books, to be honest), and lyrical. Come for the great writing, stay for the love of old books.
Our main protagonist is Red, a 14-year-old. He visits a bookshop looking for good, old science fiction and finds himself knee-deep in his own sci-fi/fantasy story. On the other side, there’s Rose who almost seems like a character who is “out of phase” with Red (like in Star Trek or Stargate). Both are seemingly aware of each other and even end up working together for a brief time, but for much of the book they are each working towards solving their own problems, which ultimately bring them closer to each other.
If you haven’t read The Library Trilogy, I think this book stands alone quite fine on its own. But, if you are already a fan of Lawrence’s Library series, this is a must-read. Not required reading, but something that you’ll enjoy and that will add to the lore and foundation of the previous books. Honestly, Lawrence could mine this concept for a dozen books, easily, now that he’s brought it into our own world and involved our own literary history into the story.
I had a great time with The Bookshop Book by Mark Lawrence and highly recommend it.
Thanks to Penguin Random House and Ace for an advanced reader copy of The Bookshop Book. All opinions are my own. The Bookshop Book will be released on Oct. 20, 2026.
Leave a Reply