The Bookshop of Buried Pasts

 The Bookshop of Buried Pasts

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       June 26, 2026

 

Author  Sarah Clutton

Distributor:      Allen and Unwin
ISBN:                 9781761471483
Publisher:         Allen and Unwin
Release Date:   28 April 2026  

   Website:   https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Sarah-Clutton-Bookshop-of-Buried-Pasts-9781761471483

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It is always a delight to read a book set in a Bookshop. The familiar feelings of satisfaction happen when you are told of the smell of the leather bindings, and the books themselves. Then there is the luxury of sitting in a comfy sunlit chair to mull over recent releases of books, time being no object. The people who work in the shop always seem to be special, clever, knowledgeable and kind. So, it is with this story. An intriguing tale with many twists and turns begins to unfold in The Bookshop of Buried Dreams.

The chapters are written by different characters, with the heading telling you who is narrating the chapter, the year, and where they are located. This helps the reader grasp the storyline, as it moves from the present to the past, between Australia and England.

One of the first characters we meet is Phyllida. She is the owner of the bookshop and about to take her life. Her granddaughter, Lotte, has worked in the bookshop for many years. She adores her grandmother but acknowledges that Grandma has many areas of her life which are not for discussion.

Being set in a small village in the NSW highlands, we meet many of the characters in the village who each share an in-depth knowledge of each other. The focus of the story, however, is discovering Phyllida’s early years in England. Lotte has many things to decide, as she manages the shop and her temperamental mother. However, the discovery of letters written by her grandmother begins the journey, gradually filling in gaps from the woman’s early years.

There are a great many twists and turns in the story which keep the reader turning pages wanting to discover how this journey ends. The Bookshop of Buried Dreams is an unusual story, very credible and mysterious.

Fiction, General