The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
Sarah Grace's Rating: 5 out of 5 bookmarks

I fell in love with Reay's writing style when I read A Portrait of Emily Price (see my review here) a while ago, so I was excited when I first saw The Printed Letter Bookshop. Also, that cover is so whimsical, I was instantly intrigued! And I was not disappointed.

The Printed Letter has a somewhat slow and even meandering plot at times, but I would not say that is a bad thing in this case. (Although it certainly didn't help my reading slump) It was, in fact, a delightfully fresh breath of air after several dud reads and fast-paced suspense books. I fell in love with this fictional bookshop, its people, and its city. Reay creates a beautiful location to set her story.

Our main characters are three women--all in different walks of life. Madeline, a young attorney; Claire, a forty-something mom and wife; and Janet, a divorced, middle-aged woman who is trying to find her place in this life. They all are, in fact, trying to find their place. And that alone makes each of these characters incredibly relatable, I believe. While the point of view jumps were confusing at times for me, I think Reay does a fabulous job keeping each of these characters unique and individual, all the way down to switching up the points of view, having both third-person and first-person points of view--something you don't see a lot, and some may find unenjoyable, but I personally liked that decision. They each had their own beautiful and complete storyline, yet the three were interwoven perfectly to form a cohesive whole.

Reay tackles some difficult and serious issues in The Printed Letter, not the least of which are adultery, divorce, and teen issues. Yet she does so with incredible tact and authenticity, weaving lines of grace, forgiveness, and mercy throughout the pages of this lovely story.

Overall, I highly recommend The Printed Letter Bookshop! Katherine Reay is an incredible author and I look forward to reading more.




Sarah Grace is a voracious reader, and if it weren’t for this crazy thing called “Life”, she’d be tempted to spend all her days in front of a woodstove, book in one hand, coffee mug in the other. A lover of learning, she finds enjoyment in many things, and has more hobbies than she knows what to do with. When not reading, spending time with her ever-growing family, or buried in a textbook, she can be found painting, playing the piano, producing music and audio dramas, web designing, fangirling with her sisters and friends, or discussing technology with her brothers. Sarah Grace inhabits the State of Great Lakes and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.


Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.