"The Bookstore Wedding" by Alice Hoffman

When she’s old enough to leave, Isabel Gibson flees from her family on Brinkley Island. She was 10 when her mother died, and she was so overwhelmed by her father’s and sister’s grief, not to mention her own, she determined to leave and block herself from love. She eventually married, but it ended in divorce.

She not only left her family behind; she also left her best friend, Johnny Lenox, the boy she loved and who loved her since they were children. Her mother’s bookstore, which her father tried to operate but couldn’t get through his grief, has been run by Isabel’s sister Sophie. 

 

Alice Hoffman

Isabel and Johnny reconnect; they never really disconnected. And they decide to marry, but something always seems to be getting in the way.

 

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman is a short story (related to the author’s Once Upon a Time Bookstore series) that isn’t as much about romance as it is about love – love for family, love for others, and love for community. It’s a simple story, told well, that ends in an unexpected but satisfying way. 

 

Hoffman is the bestselling author of more than 30 novels, three books of short stories, and eight books for children and young adults. Her work has received a number of significant recognitions, including movie versions, Oprah Book Club selections, and Publishers Weekly honors. Her novel about Anne Frank, When We Flew Away, will be published in September. A native of New York City, she lives in Boston.

 

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Water Comes Out – poem by John Foy at Literary Matters.

 

A Noiseless, Patient Spider – poem by Walt Whitman at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Poetry – poem by Joseph Legaspi at Every Day Poems.

 

A 2000-Year-Old Argument Over the Flute is the Most Important Thing in Our Culture Right Now – Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker.

 

“Adlestrop,” poem by Edward Thomas – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

A Conversation with Tania Runyan – Ben Palpant at Rabbit Room Poetry.