A sweeping tale of love and family that slowly unfolds, drawing the reader in until the very last page.
Feature image credit: Allen & Unwin
What a wonderful tale, beautifully woven to create a story that spans decades and countries.
Australian author Sarah Clutton lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales on Gundungurra and Tharawal land. Clutton has set a good portion of her new story, The Bookshop of Buried Pasts, in this beautiful part of the world.
Eighty-year-old Phyllida Banks lives in a tiny village in the Southern Highlands. She runs an antiquarian bookshop called The Bookshop of Buried Pasts. Phyllida has carried secrets her whole life so when she decides that she can no longer live, she leaves a letter to her beloved granddaughter Lottie asking her to ‘Find Francis.‘
And so begins a search back through time to Cambridgeshire, England, in the 1960s. As readers, we are taken back and forth as secrets slowly unfold. We are given information in small doses, finding out new secrets as we learn more about each of the central characters. Each one is well-rounded and as their stories are told, we discover lives intertwined that have had unknown repercussions.
When letters from the past are discovered, the stories begin to change as new information is unearthed. Who is Dorothea, and why is there a second bookshop of the same name? But most especially, who is Francis?
Each beautifully written chapter is told from the point of view of different characters, at different times, in different places. The first and last chapters, however, are ‘written’ by the bookshop itself: a lovely way to begin and end the story.
The enduring theme throughout the book is love in all its forms: who we protect and care for, and how love looks for each person. What a wonderful ride through history as stories and secrets are revealed, with characters that we can love and those who we may find very hard to like. There are so many layers to untangle.
An inviting front cover showing brightly coloured books filling shelves encourages us to open the book. When The Bookshop of Buried Pasts is finished and you reach the very satisfying conclusion, you too may just want to sit with the book cradled in your arms as you mull over the stories that have unfolded.
Reviewed by Sue Mauger
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Allen & Unwin
Released: April 2026
RRP: $34.99
