EXCERPT: It (wasn't) the first time she had been caught off guard by a book's echoed. It happened quite often, actually. Secrets so scandalous, they singed the tips of her fingers. Sadness that felt like a stone lodged in her throat. Joy so fierce, it made her scalp prickle. There wasn't much she hadn't come across. But she had never experienced anything close to what she felt while holding Regretting Belle.
Her eyes slid to the book. Even closed, she could feel the pull of it, the allure of its anonymity, its careful, inscrutable prose, beckoning to be read after who knew how long.
And the echoes.
Over the years, she'd come to think of them the way a perfumer describes the notes of a scent. Some were simple, others more complex - subtle layers of emotion combined to create a whole. Top, heart, base.
With Regretting Belle the notes were complex, heavy, and slow to lift. Against her better judgement, she placed a hand on its cover. It was bitterness that came through first, hot and sharp against the pads of her fingers. That was the top note, the initial impression. Next came the deeper and rounder heart note, betrayal, which carved a hollow place beneath her ribs. And finally, there was the base note, the most resonant of all the layers - grief. But whose grief?
How Belle?
ABOUT 'THE ECHO OF OLD BOOKS': Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.
With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers’ tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.
MY THOUGHTS: What a great read to end the year on. I have a book hangover and doubt I will be able to look at another book for several more days. The Echo of Old Books is a love story. Not a romance. A love story. And a mystery spanning decades.
Barbara Davis tied my hearts in knots. She wrung every emotion possible from me. I plunged from the heights of joy to the depths of despair. I am emotionally bereft, quietly excited, and absolutely satisfied.
The story is told over two historical timelines, aided by alternating chapters of two books: Regretting Belle written by Hemi, and Forever and Other Lies written in reply to Hemi's book by Belle.
I couldn't stop reading. I cried. I smiled. I felt frustrated, angry and ultimately, satisfied.
This was my first book by Barbara Davis. It won't be my last.
A Few Favorite Lines: We develop a particular fondness for our favorite books, the way they feel and smell and sound, the memoires they invoke, until they begin to exist for us as living, breathing things. - Ashlyn Greer, The Care & Feeding of Old Books
We never think of our parents that way, as people with dreams and passions. They're just parents.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
THE AUTHOR: I’m a Jersey girl raised in the south, now living and writing in New England. Confused? Constantly. Happy? Deliriously! But then, living your dream will do that! After fifteen years of wearing heels and schlepping a briefcase as an executive in the jewelry industry, I traded in my pinstripes for a little peace of mind, and decided to follow my dream of becoming a women’s fiction author. And what a ride it’s been! Six books later, I’m still pinching myself, and I’m still as much in love with writing as I was the day I began this journey. Maybe it’s because I believe in miracles, in happy endings and new beginnings. Heaven knows I’ve had my share.
I’m blessed to be married to my best friend and soul mate, Tom, who I must say, sets the bar pretty high for my on-the-page heroes. We also have a lovely ginger cat named Simon, who is twenty years old, wretchedly spoiled, and doesn’t give a fig if I’m on deadline or not. When I’m not making up stories, you’re likely to find me reading, cooking, watching college football, (Go Gators!)
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis.
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“Books are feelings,” he replied simply. “They exist to make us feel. To connect us to what’s inside, sometimes to things we don’t even know are there. It only makes sense that some of what we feel when we’re reading would . . . rub off.”Highlighted by 4,344 Kindle readers- We read not to escape life but to learn how to live it more deeply and richly, to experience the world through the eyes of the other.Highlighted by 3,663 Kindle readers
- Without a reader, a book was a blank slate, an object with no breath or pulse of its own. But once a book became part of someone’s world, it came to life, with a past and a present—and, if properly cared for, a future.Highlighted by 3,461 Kindle readers
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If you have dyslexia you may have a hard time reading this
The neat thing about this book is that we the audience get to read the books Regretting Belle, Forever and other lies, along with Ashlyn and Ethan. But the way the book shows us when we are reading from the books is in italics for chapters on end which can be hard on some peoples eyes. I don’t have dyslexia but my sister who does won’t even consider picking up this book because of how hard it is for her to read it.As for the story itself I really enjoyed the themes of letting go of anger and forgiveness is the process of healing. The cute quotes at the beginning of Ashlyn’s chapters that talk about books and repair are really well done and a fun ways to incorporate her book binding knowledge into the story without slowing the pace. Also love that her magazine Ashton runs is named after a real book called the care and feeding of books old and new.
