Book Review: With Love from London by Sarah Jio

My Rating:

4.5⭐

Seattle-based librarian/bookstagrammer Valentina Baker’s marriage falls apart when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Amid a painful divorce, she is notified of her estranged mother’s death and her inheritance of her mother's bookstore in London. Valentina’s mother, Eloise, had returned to London leaving Valentina and her father when Valentina was twelve years old and has never been heard from since. Though Valentina has spent most of her life harboring deep sorrow and resentment on account of her mother’s abandonment the news of her mother’s passing shocks and saddens her. 

Thirty-five-year-old Valentina travels to London and takes up residence in her mother’s flat in Primrose Hill situated in the same building above her bookstore which is called The Book Garden. Initially, she intends to settle the estate and try to piece together the events that led to her mother’s disappearance years ago. As the days progress she meets the people in her mother’s circle of friends, neighbors and local business owners including her mother’s tenant Liza, who promptly befriends her, and her mother’s childhood friend Millie, a retired lawyer who has been looking after the bookstore after her mother’s passing. Valentina’s journey of healing includes a scavenger hunt devised by her late mother (an activity Valentina enjoyed as a child) in the course of which she discovers details about her mother's life in London and how much her mother and her bookstore was loved by the local community.

“What you just said—about knowing someone, but not knowing them… it’s so true—especially when it comes to our parents. They lived entire lives before we were born, weathered their own private storms, but as children, we don’t know them that way.”

The bookstore has not been doing well financially and a large sum of money is required to keep it up and running. The bookstore was her mother’s dream project and Valentina , whose love for books and reading has been an integral part of her life, is motivated to do everything possible to avoid having to sell the building to settle outstanding debts and taxes. She finds a helping hand in her new friends and the community who band together to help her raise funds to save the bookstore, but whether the amount raised would be enough to meet the deficit is another concern.

“What makes books more special than, say, a movie, is that you can hold them. When your own world feels bleak, a book is a portal to anywhere. You can hide within the pages, linger there for comfort or protection.”

The narrative alternates between two timelines. In the present, we follow Valentina and her experiences in London and her quest to discover the truth behind the events that led to her mother’s abandoning her family so many years ago, the places she visits and people she encounters, her endeavors to save her late mother’s bookstore and her search for a person whose comments in a second-hand copy of one her favorite books has her intrigued. Eloise’s story follows her from 1968, then employed as a sales assistant at Harrod’s in London, and the story of her finding love, marrying Valentina's father, her life in California and subsequent return to London. We are also given a glimpse into her final days leading up to her demise.

With an interesting cast of characters and engaging narrative, With Love from London by Sarah Jio is a heartwarming story about family and community, love, forgiveness and second chances. I love stories revolving around books and bookstores and I enjoyed the segments devoted to Eloise’s and Valentina’s love for books – the shared memories from Valentina’s childhood were particularly touching. Though the story is predictable and nothing about how the story unfolds will surprise you much, the narrative is very well structured and the writing is beautiful. Overall, an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend.