Review: The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

The Bookseller

by Cynthia Swanson

Publisher: Harper

Pages: 352

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Nothing is as permanent as it appears . . . 

Denver, 1962: Kitty Miller has come to terms with her unconventional single life. She loves the bookshop she runs with her best friend, Frieda, and enjoys complete control over her day-to-day existence. She can come and go as she pleases, answering to no one. There was a man once, a doctor named Kevin, but it didn’t quite work out the way Kitty had hoped.

Then the dreams begin.

Denver, 1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They have beautiful children, an elegant home, and good friends. It's everything Kitty Miller once believed she wanted—but it only exists when she sleeps.

Convinced that these dreams are simply due to her overactive imagination, Kitty enjoys her nighttime forays into this alternate world. But with each visit, the more irresistibly real Katharyn’s life becomes. Can she choose which life she wants? If so, what is the cost of staying Kitty, or becoming Katharyn?

As the lines between her worlds begin to blur, Kitty must figure out what is real and what is imagined. And how do we know where that boundary lies in our own lives? 


Kritters Thoughts:  One woman and almost two different lives/storylines.  She is working in a bookstore with a friend and as she goes to sleep she enters a different world of what could have been.  She enters this dream world often and as the story continues you learn more about both paths and what has led her to where she truly is.

Katharyn/Kitty was a fantastic character.  She was complex yet simple and just charming.  I wanted to know more about her and what made her tic.  I loved that although the two different life paths were different, you could see her taking both and being happy in either, but one of them is really where her life is.

I absolutely adore these stories - the if you made a small different choice it could catapult your life in a whole new direction.  It makes me sit and wonder what decisions I made that ended up making a larger impact and where would I be if I had made a different choice.  This one will make you think and reflect on your own life - make you wonder what if!

If you love these stories this is one to pick up.  This book made me a fan of Cynthia Swanson and I will be looking out for her next one!

And as an aside - look for the If/Then musical (I saw it on Broadway in March).  It just closed on broadway and I hear rumor it may be touring, but this book reminded me of that musical.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.