Ruth Hamilton (1940–2016)

The Reading Room is a bookstore/cafe in a little village near Bolton, which is in Lancashire. The book tells the stories of a group of villagers most of whom live and work in the centre of the village in little shops or, in one case, the parish Catholic priest as well.

Leanne has run from a life that nearly ended in her death and is living in the village and running a flower shop and going by the name Lily. Her best friend and her friend's daughter are there as well. Nobody knows their past.

There's Dave, who runs the bookshop and his dominating mother, Enid, who sits by the window in the flat over the shop and watches the comings and goings with an eagle eye. Philly, a plain but kind woman, helps him in the bookstore. There's Eve and her husband originally from Liverpool. They're quite lively. Father Mike is good looking and may be headed for his own life change. Paul and Maurice run the salon together with their lodger Sally but things aren't as they seem there, either.

It's light, easy reading, likeable characters, dislikeable ones, it's fairly predictable as well. The nasty that Lily/Leanne is running from comes back after her of course and there's a happy ending for all, also expected. I liked the book, it was nicely written, and i found the characters engaging.… (mehr)