Sweet, gentle fantasy about grief and family and community. Answer the phone! ( )

I can't tell you how much I adored this book. Reading The Emporium of Imagination was like sending nourishing warm hot chocolate straight to the soul.

The Emporium of the title is a shop, and Earlatidge is the store's custodian. The shop travels the world to where it's needed and at the start of the book, it's opening in the small town of Boonah. When it magically appears, and the shopkeeper has been found, the store will sell vintage gifts to revive broken dreams, repair relationships, ease grief, soothe broken hearts and more.

"The Emporium is a bustle of a place. People come and go. Some see magic everywhere. Other people see less magic and more a commonplace shop selling quirky vintage wares. It depends on what they expect to see. A person looking for the impossible will find it. One who isn't cannot." Page 215

Set in Boonah in Queensland, this book contains magical realism and even the streets named after weeds seem wonderfully magical. Who wouldn't want to live in Milk Thistle Street, Ragweed Place and Mustard Hedge Road?

Early on in the novel, we learn Earlatidge is gifted with:
"a sight and senses that others don't possess. He can hear other people's grief, an ability that is not only auditory, he can also see those moments as clear as motion pictures in his mind. Often, he can smell the event. Hear the sounds. Sometimes he can taste or even feel things relating to their sadness. He will use this gift to understand people's sorrow and extend invitations to visit the Emporium..." Pages 6-7

The Emporium of Imagination is an incredibly uplifting and life affirming novel delivering messages about regret, lost opportunities, guilt, smothered dreams, love, loss, sorrow, grief, duty, hope, redemption and more to the reader. The Emporium is able to provide just what each customer needs at that point in their life to heal and I think the book does the same for the reader. Some character backstories will resonate more than others, but all are heartwarming and moving.

While touching on such important and deep themes, the novel somehow manages to be quite funny in parts, and I loved the dialogue between the brothers. It's also incredibly creative and I haven't experienced that level of stimulating imagination on the page since reading and falling in love with Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor in 2019. That book easily made my Top 5 Books of 2019 list and I'm positive The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird is going to be on my Top 5 Books of 2021 list. That's how much I enjoyed this book.

Tabitha Bird is an Australian author, and this is the first book I've read of hers, however you better believe that her debut A Lifetime of Impossible Days is now on my TBR pile.

The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird was an absolute highlight of my reading year so far and I highly recommend it. ( )

After being enchanted by Tabitha Bird’s debut, A Lifetime of Impossible Days, I was delighted by the gift of her second novel, The Emporium of Imagination. The book arrived in a charming package accompanied by a veritable cornucopia of thoughtfully hand selected vintage treasures from the author herself, items which tie in beautifully with novel.

The Emporium of Imagination is a heartfelt, poignant, and whimsical tale of love, grief and magic.

In the small Queensland town of Boonah, an extraordinary store suddenly appears on what the day before was a vacant block of land. It declares itself as The Emporium of Imagination and its customers will soon learn that the magic is not just in its living carpet of wildflowers or ladybugs that turn into lollipops, but in its ability to grant wishes and second chances, encourage wonder and joy, and offer the grieving the chance to reconnect with lost loved ones.

“Thee Emporium is filling with wonders, with things necessary to bring healing or help others fulfil lost dreams or mend broken hopes. The Emporium has arrived to help....”

Before the store can open for business though, the custodian of The Emporium of Imagination, Earlatidge Hubert Umbray, accompanied by an orange cat, must find a shopkeeper for its tenure in Boonah, and as his time is nearly up, he is also in search of a new steward. In the meantime, messages and trinkets are delivered to residents of the town in need of the magic the Emporium’ has to offer. Among them is Ann Harlow, who has returned to Boonah with her four year old son to be with her beloved, dying grandmother, and ten year old Enoch whose adored father has just passed away.

Crafted with sensitivity, compassion and Tabitha Bird’s particular brand of magic, The Emporium of Imagination explores grief, regret, love, forgiveness, and hope. Anyone, which face it is almost everyone, who has ever lost something - be it a dream, a relationship, a treasured item, or a person - will be deeply moved by this story, which reminds us, among other things, that redemption and salvation is always a possibility.

“Grief means we have loved. Would you really want to take away feelings of love?”

It’s a lesson Bird’s characters need to embrace. As Earlatidge’s time with the Emporium draws to a close, and parts of himself begin to disappear, he needs to confront the tragedy of his past. Ann needs to accept the inevitable and make peace with the decisions she has made, while Enoch has to find a way to forgive himself, and his father. I felt for all the characters in The Emporium of Imagination struggling with their various losses, and found myself alternatively sobbing and smiling as their stories were revealed.

“All you need is a little imagination. Broken things can still be made whole.”

Infused with creativity, wit and wisdom, The Emporium of Imagination Is a magical read. Let yourself believe. ( )