Welcome! I am featuring debut author Elaine Roberts today. Ms. Roberts said one of the challenges with writing a historical novel is the research. She said it is easy to get lost in the events (and end up with too much material). When her research is done, she constructs a timeline of events. This will be the basis of her story. Her characters lives and what happens to them are woven around the historical events.
Foyles is a real bookstore chain located in the United Kingdom. There is a store on
Charring Cross Road in London.
The Foyles Bookshop Girls by Elaine Roberts is the first story in
The Foyles Girls series. Alice Taylor works at W & G Foyles
Bookstore on Charring Cross Road in London with her friends Victoria Appleton and
Molly Cooper. Victoria is responsible
for her two younger siblings since their parents died four and a half years
earlier. Molly is in love with Tony Fletcher
who likes to flirt with every woman he encounters. Alice comes from a well-to-do family and her
father, Luke has very rigid ideas for women which makes life difficult for
Lily, Alice’s spirited sister. Alice
loves her job at Foyles and spending time with her beau, Freddie who is a
police sergeant. Then England declares
war against Germany and the men rush to enlist including Freddie. Before Freddie departs for training camp, he
proposes to Alice. The wedding will have
to wait until he gets leave. As the war
continues on, Alice, Victoria and Molly want to find a way to help the war
effort at home. Alice learns to drive an
ambulance and transfers passengers from the train station to the hospital. She likes to keep herself busy to avoid
thinking about the danger those she loves are in. Will Freddie make it home from the war? Are her brothers safe? Will the war ever end? Venture back to 1914 in
The Foyles Bookshop Girls.
The Foyles Bookshop Girls takes
readers back to 1914 when World War I begins.
We see how quickly life can change.
The story focuses on Alice but includes her family and friends. Alice comes from a more affluent household
than her friends. The author did a wonderful
job at setting the stage for the book. Elaine
Roberts descriptions brought the book
alive for me. I could envision the
characters, their homes, and Foyles Bookshop. Alice is a spirited, strong intelligent woman.
She was the anchor for her group of friends.
I like how the characters developed over the course of the story and the
friendship between the ladies deepened.
Alice matured and developed new insights and a stronger voice. I just loved the accounts of Foyles
Bookshop. It sounded like a magical place
with all the wonderful books. When Alice
mentioned the smell of the books, I completely agreed and understood. It was interesting how the bookshop operated
(how people purchased their books, how the payment system operated). I would have liked more about the Foyles
Bookshop. It was not central to the
story. I wanted to know more about
Victoria and Molly. I am hoping that
they will be featured more prominently in the next two books in the
series.
The Foyles Bookshop Girls contains
good writing and it is gently paced. Elaine
Roberts is off to a promising start with her debut novel of
The Foyles Bookshop Girls. I have included an extract for your enjoyment:
Alice sighed with
relief. Foyles Bookstore frontage was unmissable. The message was clear. They
were the largest booksellers in London, with six floors. If a novel was
purchased and returned after it was read, there would be a refund of two thirds
of the price for each book. They had created quite a name since William and
Gilbert Foyle started selling their own unwanted books in 1903. Everyone who
started working there was told about their vision of having a bookshop for the
people.
She paused for a moment to take a
couple of deep breaths, hoping to lessen the heat on her face, catching sight
of her reflection in a shop window. Her slender figure was slightly distorted
by the glass as she patted down the wide, black-edged lapels of her white
blouse. Her hand automatically ran down the small black buttons, twisting each
one in turn. She took a deep breath, patted her pinned up hair and stepped
towards the open doorway of the shop. The shutters were being lifted and
bookstands were being placed by the entrance and to the side of the store.
Customers of all ages were already gathering.
‘Morning, Miss Taylor.’ A slim man
towered above her. ‘You only just made it on time.’ He frowned. Her heart pummelled in her chest.
She looked up at his stern expression. His grey hair was greased back. ‘Sorry,
sir, I foolishly went to St Thomas' before I came to work.’ Colour flushed her
cheeks; Mr Leadbetter was a stickler for timekeeping. ‘Oh.’ His face softened. ‘Nothing
wrong I trust?’
‘No, sir, I’ve so many books
indoors, I wanted to give some to the hospital…’ Alice's voice faded to a
mumble. ‘For the patients.’
Mr Leadbetter raised his eyebrows.
His hands linked behind his back, making his dark grey jacket gape revealing
more of his blue tie and lily-white shirt. ‘Very commendable.’ He paused for a
moment. ‘You do know we sell second-hand books as well as new ones, don't you?’ The corners of Alice's lips lifted
slightly. ‘Of course, sir, I’ve worked here for a few years now. I just thought
it would be a good thing to do, but I should have waited until my day off.’ Mr Leadbetter nodded and stepped
aside for Alice to walk through the store to the staff room. Having removed her
hat and left it with her shopping bag, she stood in front of a large white clock
face with its wooden surround and pulled her clocking-in card from the
individual slots next to it. She dropped it into a hole in front of the clock
and pulled it out again. Alice looked down at the time stamp, realising she had
only just made it on time. Quickly placing it back, she hurried into the shop.
Foyles had an air of a library about
it as men, women and children lifted books from the shelves to look at the
covers and read the first few pages. People whispered to each other, some
louder than others, as their excitement grew. The bookshop had become a popular
meeting place. There were shelves upon shelves of old and new books, priced
from tuppence upwards. She took a deep breath, never tiring of the smell that
came from them. She smiled, remembering how Mr Leadbetter had caught her with
her nose in a book, her eyes shut, savouring the smell. He hadn't questioned
her; he understood and they spent ten minutes trying to work out how to
describe it. Was it woody? But then there was a trace of something else; maybe
it was the ink or dust. If the previous reader had been a smoker, then that
also clung to the pages. No one in the store thought it was odd; they were book
lovers, after all.
Kris
The Avid Reader