I really enjoyed reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin last year, so was looking forward to reading one of her other books The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey and it didn’t disappoint.

I was immediately drawn to the setting of an island off Massachusetts, Nantucket being somewhere I have always wanted to go and now want to more than ever, and a bookshop, a hallowed place to someone so enamoured with reading. The store is owned by AJ Fikrey, who is a widower and struggling to keep the store afloat and miserable after the loss of his wife. His life takes a dramatic turn when two-year old Maya is left in his shop with a note asking him to take care of her.

Fikrey makes the decision to bring Maya up and she opens his world and his heart, as does his blossoming, slow-burn relationship with publishers-rep Amelia. This is a sweet tale of second chances, community and the power of stories and I loved the constant literary references. It was a total pleasure to read from start to finish.