Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book InfoPaperback, 352 pagesExpected publication: August 20th 2013 by Gallery BooksISBN 147671424X (ISBN13: 9781476714240)Source:Netgalley EARCBook Buy LinksAMAZONB&NBOOK SYNOPSISA witty, sharply observed debut novel about a young woman who finds unexpected salvation while working in a quirky used bookstore in Manhattan.Impressionable and idealistic, Esme Garland is a young British woman who finds herself studying art history in New York. She loves her apartment and is passionate about the city and her boyfriend; her future couldn’t look brighter. Until she finds out that she’s pregnant.Esme’s boyfriend, Mitchell van Leuven, is old-money rich, handsome, successful, and irretrievably damaged. When he dumps Esme—just before she tries to tell him about the baby—she resolves to manage alone. She will keep the child and her scholarship, while finding a part-time job to make ends meet. But that is easier said than done, especially on a student visa.The Owl is a shabby, second-hand bookstore on the Upper West Side, an all-day, all-night haven for a colorful crew of characters: handsome and taciturn guitar player Luke; Chester, who hyperventilates at the mention of Lolita; George, the owner, who lives on protein shakes and idealism; and a motley company of the timeless, the tactless, and the homeless. The Owl becomes a nexus of good in a difficult world for Esme—but will it be enough to sustain her? Even when Mitchell, repentant and charming, comes back on the scene?A rousing celebration of books, of the shops where they are sold, and of the people who work, read, and live in them, The Bookstore is also a story about emotional discovery, the complex choices we all face, and the accidental inspirations that make a life worth the reading.My Thoughts23 year old Esme transplanted and on her own in New York after being raised in small town England was at first unsure of her place in the city, now she feels like there is no other place she would rather be as the sometimes mundane dynamics of day to day life as a college student quickly settle into routine. The first kink in her plans to get her degree comes when Esme suddenly finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy and a father-to-be who would rather she terminate the baby than be it's daddy.In the midst of her decision making Esme comes to a very startling realization that she cannot find it in her heart to rid herself of her unborn child, so rather than have an abortion she decides with our without Mitchell to have the baby and raise it with all the love that she feels it deserves.This in turn causes a whole new set of problems when Esme realizes that to raise the child she is in need of an income to allow her to provide for the baby's needs and her options are sorely limited due to her student visa restrictions. Lucky chance comes in the form of her favorite bookstore, The Owl, posting a "Help Wanted" sign. Esme gets the job and in doing so once again changes her life, this time though the change provides her with much needed support from the bookstore owner and it's very eccentric cast of regular customers and fellow employees.The book had such a great vibe to start out, even when Esme first realizes she is "in trouble" her sunny outlook of idealism in a cynical world kept it from becoming too depressing. The kicker however was Mitchell, he was such a jerk from the very beginning of making his acquaintance that one could not help but really rethink just how smart Esme really was because it seemed like everyone else saw his true personality but her.Despite the on again/off again relationship with Mitchell Esme remains throughout a lovely young woman whose honest reactions to the world around her forced me to burst into laughter at odd moments when she made a social gaffe on several occasions speaking of things best not mentioned in polite company, the one moment that left several characters in fits of mirth and that really truly got me roaring though was near the last when she was in her childbirth classes and in beginning labor. Esme could not have been more refreshing to follow on her journey, my only complaint is that she was too accommodating to people who were not worth worrying herself over but that was true to her British upbringing so it fit her character whether it chafed my brashly independent American self or not!Nice bit of chick lit that will surprise some, delight others, be too detailed on the "artistic elements" for others but overall appeal to those who like myself enjoy watching as the character changes and grows throughout the story in ways even they were not expecting.[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]