Penelope Fitzgerald «The Book Shop»

In Penelope Fitzgerald's family there were notable writers and publishers, but she had to wait until her late 50s to launch her own literary career. Considered one of the best British authors of the late 20th century, she was a Booker prize winner with Offshore, and three of her other novels, including The Bookshop (1978), were shortlisted. A great novel for book lovers, it tells the bittersweet, tragicomic tale of Florence Green, a young widow, who buys a dilapidated old house in a tiny Suffolk town. Her plan is to open a bookshop. But not everybody shares her enthusiasm. A society lady wants the house for an Arts Centre; Florence, however, pushes ahead. She starts a lending library, but among the small-mindedness of an insular community, she will always be an outsider. The bleakness, though, is softened by Fitzgerald's subtle humour. We shall watch the film version with Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy. Since the book is not very long, we may also read some of Fitzgerald's short stories. Participants are requested to read parts of the text at home as preparation for the discussion in class. Level C1