Author Gabrielle Zevin believes we tell stories to understand the world, and that we often view our own lives through the lens of a story, which is a perfect description for both the characters in this book and the people who will love it. If that sounds a little vague now, it won’t after you read the book.
Life on Alice Island doesn’t necessarily revolve around the town bookstore, except for the students and teachers, the police department, young mothers, and virtually all the tourists. So basically all the main characters seem to bleed words, much like I feel I do. There is no more perfect cast of characters for me than ones who find meaning, inspiration, or even escape, in the pages of a book, and for whom talking about books is the catalyst that drives lifelong friendships.
Each chapter begins with a reference to a book that the narrator finds relevant to that particular “chapter” in their lives. The Bookseller by Roald Dahl to reflect on the meaning of life; A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner to describe the search for love, and the narrator’s belief that you learn all you need to know about a person when they answer the question, “what is your favorite book?”; even Lamb to the Slaughter, also by Dahl, to give insight into both the reading preferences and the thought processes of the main character, A.J. Fikry. Essentially, famous and popular works help tell the fictional story of the lives of Alice Island residents, almost as if the characters themselves weren’t people but books.
As an avid reader I fell in love with the notion that we can learn more about ourselves through books. Characters or situations could mirror our own lives if we step outside reality and look at things through the fantasy lens, perhaps giving us strength, comfort, or a sense that we aren’t alone simply because someone was able to articulate in a fictional story what we have trouble seeing in real life. I fell in love with the notion that people can bond over a book because the story or the characters didn’t just entertain you but because they spoke to you and formed a connection. And I love the notion that communities can come together and learn to appreciate and understand and support one another through the simple pleasure of reading. If it wasn’t situated off the east coast and prone winter weather I’d rather not experience, I can’t think of a more perfect place to live than Alice Island, or a group of people I’d like to know more than its resident bookseller and his customers.
Michele Lenard 