My Never Ending List

I felt connected to this novel as it takes place in Iowa, the state which I was born and have placed my roots. The town she describes could be any town in any state but it is small town living nevertheless which I, myself find is too slow-paced for me. Sara was stretching her boundaries, she wanted a deeper friendship with Amy and she really had nothing to lose by coming to America to see her.   Sara thought it was their connection to books that brought her to Broken Wheel but after being here, it was the town that Amy mentioned in her letters that Sara wanted to see too. It was as if Amy had something and Sara wanted a piece of it. The beginning of the novel was embracing and the story moved swiftly. The small town seized Sara, they knew they had nothing to offer her but they did not want to let her out of their hands. For Broken Wheel is a dying town, there is no reason for her to stay but there’s something about Sara and the town knew it. It was as if Sara held something the town needed but what was it? The riches were in Amy’s bedroom, the piles of books that kept her company while she lay sick in bed and Sara is beside herself with all this fortune. Deciding to give back to the town which has opened this hearts and pockets to Sara since she has arrived, Sara helps open a book store for the town. I loved this portion of the novel, the gossip and scandalous buzz that flows through the area was comical. As the book store opens Sara is faced with many questions which had me laughing, who reads books? People read these types of books? Why read books? Sara has many long days but this leaves her time to read on her own which causes of course, more buzz in the air about the woman who reads so much in a town who will not let her go.   Then Sara creates sign for the books, these sign are wonderful, I loved them, seriously loved them. Sara doesn’t have long before her Visa is up and she must head home but the town feels otherwise. The town has changed for they are created anew and Sara has changed too but time is closing in and she must say good-bye to the town which has brought her much happiness. I feel that overall the novel was good but the middle got long. I got a bit bored with the middle, not with Sara but with the other drama that was trying to occur. The book references that were within the novel were interesting as there were plenty and quite a large variety. I enjoyed Amy’s letters that were inserted throughout the text as Sara was living in Broken Wheel, as they showed how their relationship evolved and how Sara got to know Broken Wheel before she arrived. The author’s reference to Hope and Broken Wheel, this was clever.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book in September but could not post my review until now.