Colgan, J: Bookshop on the Shore

Seeing the bookcover, and the name Jenny Colgan, one could rightly expect a nice and light chick-lit. But that is not what you get in "The Bookshop on the Shore". You get a book that reminded me at times of Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Lemony Snickets 'A series of unfortunate events' and Nanny McPhee. You get a book about a single mother who has no dime left and so accepts the offer of two jobs in rural Scotland: being a nanny for 3 spoilt and motherless children living in a dark + dusty + old-fashioned castle, who already scared away 6 previous AuPairs with their cheekiness. On top of that, during the day she drives around a van that doubles as a bookshop and tries to sell books to the aloof villagers who don't trust her to choose the correct titles for them.

And although I do enjoy reading fluffy chick-lits, I was pleasantly surprised to get something very different here. After a while I even took a liking to Patrick, Mary and Shackleton (Hari was in my heart from the very beginning). I really admired Zoe for her fortitude, and her bravery living in this spooky (but also quite enchanting - once it got a proper dusting) castle at Loch Ness.
Oh, and books also play an important role in the story, and plenty of them are mentioned throughout. Thumbs up for that!