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Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,
To say that I loved the Little Shop of Happy Ever After would be an understatement. Jenny Colgan's tale of a book lover moving to Scotland to sell books out of a traveling van was filled with inspiration and left me joyous at the end. To break up my Thriller-heavy reading schedule, I decided to revisit this delightful author.
The Little Beach Street Bakery is book one in a trilogy of books written by Jenny Colgan. It is released by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. When Polly Waterford's relationship and business both end, she is left with the harsh reality that she is single again. She needs a job. She needs a place to live. And most of all she needs to bake, a stress-relieving hobby of hers. But Polly is forced to engage her finances head-on, and realize that she cannot afford much until she and her ex, Chris, sell their shared flat. But an advertisement sets Polly and her best friend, Kerensa, on the road to the Cornwall coast of England to look at the flat that is in Polly's price range.
The flat is in Mount Polbearne, a sleepy seaside community of several hundred with a peculiar walkway of cobblestones, called the Causeway. At certain times of the day the Causeway is submerged in the ocean and Mount Polbearne becomes an island. The flat is above an abandoned bakery and is owned by Mrs. Gillian Manse, a rather ornery octogenarian who is also the only baker in town. Polly relents and accepts a short-term lease, and moves in. With the help of some local fishermen, Polly moves all of her furniture and belongings to the second floor. Their captain, a rugged man named Tarnie, finds Polly quite odd but seems taken by her.
She begins to bake delicious-smelling bread to relax. After seeing Mrs. Manse's bakery with its dusty interior and unpleasant baked goods, Polly knows that she will have to bake her own food or she will starve. As a kind gesture to the fishermen that helped her, she brings them bread. This does not settle well with Mrs. Manse, and she and Polly butt heads. After their argument Polly begins to bake bread for the townsfolk for money and supplies. Along the way she also meets Huckle, a lone beekeeper that lives not too far away on the mainland. They grow close and he begins to charm her with his American, southern accent and his laid-back mood. This is in great contrast with Neil, Polly's pet puffin, who is anything but laid back. EEp.
But an accident forces Polly and Gillian Manse into an awkward partnership that proves challenging to both of them. Polly begins to understand all of the pain and sadness surrounding the old woman. She knows that Mrs. Manse cannot bake forever, and with Gillian's permission, begins to scrub and breathe new life into the bakery below her flat. With new tourism flooding in faster than the tide, both bakeries begin to show promise. The sleepy, little town becomes home to Polly. And there she will face some of her greatest challenges.
Little Beach Street Bakery was a beautifully written, heartfelt novel. It gave me hours of an immersive narrative that swept me away to another place. Based on St. Michael's Mount, a tidal island on the English Coast, Mount Polbearne is a beautiful location for this amazing story. The people were vivid, the emotions real, and the story moved briskly along. Colgan even threw in a Star Wars Cosplay wedding for good measure (a plot point this Star Wars nerd ate up). When there was happiness I beamed. When there was sorrow I teared up. And when Colgan pitted Mount Polbearne against a dangerous storm, the results were heart-breaking.
Jenny Colgan once again gave me a story that had me feeling joyous by the end. She has a way of writing that lays bare the emotions of people. And when I was introduced to a character, that character became as tangible to me as anyone standing nearby. She gave me a reason to stay up late. And I updated friends and family on the story as I read it, making them want to read this book, as well.
I read Little Beach Street Bakery in part with the narration of classically trained actress, Veida Dehmlow. Her breezy British accent married beautifully with Polly's story. And even her portrayal of Southerner Huckle worked well. I enjoyed her work on this book.
Little Beach Street Bakery landed firmly at five stars for me. I cannot stress enough what an uplifting book this is. It is a firm messenger delivering the knowledge that if you believe and work hard, your dreams will come true. And the seven recipes in the back of the book give you the chance to bake some of Polly's bread yourself. Take this book to the beach and find some time. You will not regret picking up Little Beach Street Bakery. And if you should meet a puffin while reading this book, who knows... he may turn out to be Neil.
Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.
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All written content (c) Copyright 2023 by Thomas Bahr II
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