Book Review: The Dream, The Stairwell, And The Lost Bookshop

I’m freaking out! This book truly is magical. 

Let me tell you an anecdote about the magic of The Lost Bookshop and how it found me.

I get to about 96% of the novel on my Kindle and I’m completely FREAKING OUT - just a few weeks before discovering this book, I wrote a similar little story. If you've read The Lost Bookshop, you'll remember the upside-down stairwell that one of the protagonists, Opaline, writes about in her book A Place Called Lost. A stairwell that is obviously completely fictional. But, is it?

Okay, bear with me. 

One morning in early May, I woke up from a strange dream, as we all do sometimes. It was one of those vivid dreams that feels both real and surreal. You know, the one you're grasping urgently to hold onto. So, to not forget this strange dream, and while it was still fresh in my memory, I quickly grabbed my phone and wrote it down in my notes App. In my dream, there was an upside-down stairwell - twisting, disorienting, dark, and mysterious but I had no idea what it meant. By the time the kids left for school that morning, I had a pretty solid plot and a good idea of the direction my story was heading. What merely started as the ramblings of an overtired, overthinking, perhaps over-imaginative mind was turning into a mystery/magic short story before my eyes. 

It was as if someone or something else had hijacked my sensory neurons and was directing the creative controls in my brain.

I had no intention of actually writing a short story until I saw an ad for our community writing awards a couple of days later. I thought the plot that naturally developed as an extension of the dream was good, the pacing was nice, the characters were interesting, and I wanted to get to know them more, so I kept writing and entered my story in the writing competition. 

That wasn't the end of the weirdness.

Fast forward to early June, about one month after my dream, when I first discovered the Evie Woods novel, The Lost Bookshop. I never read the book before, never discussed it with anyone, never read any reviews on it. Blissfully unaware of its existence and its magnificence, which is how I discover many great reads by the way. Truthfully, I’ve never been that big into the magical realism and fantasy genres (hint: I’ve been reading LOTR for years. I still haven’t gotten through all the books). But I love, love, love bookshops, so I decided to give this one a go. 

Right now, I’m lying in bed, too euphoric to finish the last few pages. I literally had to close the book to pull myself together. THE STAIRWELL IN OPALINE'S NOVEL, IS THE SAME STAIRWELL I'VE SEEN IN MY DREAM!

What in the magical mystery is going on here?

Ultimately, the obsession with finding the lost bookshop is about rediscovering oneself; it's about being brave enough to rewrite the past, and having the courage to live our authentic story moving forward. "The thing about books", she said, "is that they help you imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of."

A Story That Found Me Before I Found It

Set between Paris, London, and Dublin, this beautiful novel by Evie is loaded with powerful themes on women's rights, DVA, and feminism. It is a clever blend of escapism and awareness, of realism and fantasy, and as you've gathered by now, centres around a mysterious bookshop and its mysterious stairwell.

For me, a stairwell symbolises moving forward. Whether ascending or descending, the choice is ours. We have within us the power to elevate ourselves beyond our past mistakes and current struggles. We are capable of reaching greater heights with the right support structure and breaking through invisible ceilings. Falling hurts, but if we make the right moves and put one foot in front of the other, success is imminent, and we are sure to meet it along the way. Success at love; success in our career, success with family, success in escaping oppression, degradation, and unappreciation. A stairwell represents growth, being forgiving of ourselves and others, and getting back up when we stumble. We don't have to remain stuck in the past; we are able to side-step adversity and demand to get the same respect we give to those on our journey.

Maybe it was I who was lost all along and not the bookshop.’ - Opaline 

Considering my short story takes a wildly different path than that of A Place Called Lost (but seemingly revolving around the same stairwell? or maybe just a similar stairwell?), it is a testament to our unique lived experiences and the stories we go on to tell, create, and change because of these experiences. It just shows to go, there’s a lost bookshop in all of us waiting to be discovered. 

I knew there was a strange kind of magic in these walls. Maybe not the kind you’d find in travelling shows or under the big top, but something far subtler than that. - Opaline