Village Books by Craig McLay

For about the first quarter of this book I kept wondering when the sci-fi element or the supernatural element was going to make an appearance.  After all, the previous books I have read by Mr McLay would seem to suggest that these are his milieu.  Then I realised, this is a different sort of book - this is a book about life.  So three books by one author and all in different genres - go on, you can tell us Craig McLay is the pseudonym for a writing group and each of these books has been written by a different member.

This is such a gentle story, told by one man about how he has ended up working in a bookshop when all he really wants is to find his perfect partner and settle down in to family life.  When aspiring actress Leah stumbles in to the eponymous Village Books it seems that fate has conspired to give him what he wants.  After all she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and she knows her literature, maybe that's why the first words out of his mouth are a proposal - sadly he is far too late as Leah is already engaged.  Just one more disappointment in a life ocnstructed of such.

What is so compelling about this book is the cast of characters that inhabit Village Books.  to say they are a disfunctional bunch of neurotics is doing them a disservice.  They are just a bunch of normal people thrown together in a work environment that just so happens to bring out the worst in them.  Whether it was the setting of a book store or the narration style I found myself comparing it to Caroline Kepsnes's You and although it is a vastly different storyline there is a symbiotic feel between the two stories; it also reminded me of the movie Empire Records with snatches of You've Got Mail.

I found it to be a joyful tale - even if the favoured drink in the local tavern is a horrible, cheap white cider that is derided here.  Yes, it is unrealistic in that everyone gets, eventually, their own happy ending but you know what, I like that.  I like that when you have such simple wishes for your future - ultimately each character doesn't want something unattainable - they can really come to pass.  There are ups and downs but, at the end of it all, you are left with a smile on your face and a sense of happy closure.